Legacy of Kain: Equinox
by Kojiokida2
Summary: The fate of Nosgoth hangs in the balance. The Divus, furious over the destruction of their city, are sweeping Nosgoth clean of all life which could oppose them and the launching of the Ark into the ether of the universe. Kain must bring the races of Nosgoth together under one banner, restore the Pillars and finally achieve his true destiny.
1. Prologue

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(For those who decided to jump into the story right here...don't. Go back and read Blood Omen 3 first, then Soul Reaver 3, followed by Absolution, Heritage, Soul Reaver 4 and Insurrection. For those already up to date - Welcome back ladies and gentlemen! This is it. The finale. The final story of my Legacy of Kain story which collectively I'm calling the 'DIVUS' saga. Its taken a lot of frustration, pain, blood, sweat and tears over so many years but we've finally reached the culmination of my long work. I'll admit, I think that when this is finally over and I'm all done, I'll probably feel pretty sad. This little doosey of mine has been with me far longer than any other fan project I've undertaken. I'll honestly be sad to see it go. But all good things must come to an end. So let's do it people...buckle up with me one last time and let's ride this LoK horse into the sunset!)

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 **"I began life as the unimportant son of a noble of no great worth. I died, cold and alone in the mud of a slum of no great importance. Buried and left to rot, I was intended to be forgotten. I rose in blood, fury and vengeance to bend the world to my will. I ruled Nosgoth for centuries, the emperor god of an Empire of immortals. Yet even this was little more than a tomb, a rotten dying world for a rotten dead man. I desired more. I desired what had been my true destiny. Have I fought hard enough, changed enough, become strong enough; to claim the only prize worth the taking?"**

 **"There is, as mortals would say, only one way to find out!"**

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 _ **Legacy of Kain: EQUINOX**_

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The chamber was dark and silent, lighting braziers having been neglected for so long now that the one only light was through a single jagged gap in the curved dome ceiling high above. But even that light, with the near perpetual covering of smog and soot, was dim. A simple patch of pale, weak luminescence cast onto the floor in the shape of a ragged thunderbolt. The air was still even with the exposure to the sky, not so much as a breeze coming in through the inviting opening. Dust was accumulating on the floor, inch by rising inch like a covering of snow.

The six large banners hanging around the inside of the wide circular chamber were faded to a near uniform grey. In the dark they all seemed identical. Only if one looked very closely could the six irregular symbols for the clans of the collapsed Empire be seen, the colors bleeding away after so long. Each banner hung silent and still, several torn in places and each with tattered, fraying ends. The carvings around the chamber, painstakingly crafted by the most gifted artisans of their time, were all either worn, filled with dust or chipped beyond repair.

The only exception to this complete and utter desolation was in the centre of the chamber. Set into its exact middle was a large circular raised platform, covered in arcane style markings all centered on a single focal point. These markers were pristine and unnoticed, marred only by a coating of dust. Jutting out at one end of the platform were two raised extensions with a stone flight of stairs leading down to the lower floor, offset from one another by several degrees. From the other was a wider extension of the circle itself, upon which now lay nine distinct piles of lifeless grey marble rubble.

"So it is true..." A voice spoke from the darkness, mournful, filled with regret and profound loss. The sound echoed around the chamber unnaturally, a seeming intruder against the disapproval of the silence. As the last of the echoes died away, a long figure stepped from the impenetrable shadows and into the dim light. His form was tall, muscular and broadshouldered. His long white hair was tied back behind his imposing crest. The light fell upon his face, outlining the long nose and high cheekbones of a bronzed and toughened face.

Kain, master, emperor and god to an empire of Vampires which had lasted for over a thousand years, stood alone in the gloom staring forlornly at the rubble which at one time had been the Pillars which had served as his very throne. He, of course, had heard about their current state but to actually see them now for himself was distressing. He had thought himself fully prepared for the sight but the reality was another matter. There was a sense of loss so profound that he felt it akin to staring at the corpse of a loved one. The effect was made all the more poignant by the fact that for so long he had disregarded these edifices as irrelevant. Now he was left saddened by their loss and the sense of what might have been.

Their final collapse had occurred because he had been lost, cast outside the rim of time itself after losing his battle against Raziel-Divus. Severed from the Pillars as if dead, they had had no last even thin lifeline to which to hold. They had crumbled, their energies dispelling and their enchantments evaporating. The binding was shattered so that the Hylden could march out of their imprisonment, released from their exile and allowed to colonize Nosgoth once more. By the time of his return, rescued from that space between the infinities of everything and nothing, it had been much too late. The pillars were gone, beyond any hope of restoration.

Could it truly be that they had found a way of remaking them from the ether itself, as had been done in days long since past? It seemed all too incredible, not to mention epically convenient, that this so called Pillar Forge could simply allow them to make a new set of Pillars. True, it had been a struggle to not only secure the forge but to attain its Igniter, the orb which had ironically been the summit of Moebius' forsaken staff, but still somehow the mere idea seemed far too easy. Perhaps he had just been through so much that by now he had grown unnecessarily cynical but Kain could not shake the feeling that the path to the raising of the new Pillars could not be so simple.

Slowly his eyes wandered over the rubble and he was able to pick out each individual pillar amongst the debris easily. Over the centuries he had held court in this chamber, he had grown so familiar with each Pillar that he knew each one simply by the hue of its coloration. The nearest to him was the matter that once belonged to the Pillar of the Mind, the Pillar that many centuries ago had attended to by the Mentalist Nupraptor. It had been his grief, his disturbingly deep sense of anguish, which had poisoned the symbiotically joined circle and began the nightmare.

Slowly Kain made his way across the platform, his eyes wandering from each pile of debris and noting the pillar it came from in turn. The pillar of Dimension, the pillar of Conflict, the Pillar of Nature, the Pillar of Energy, the Pillar of Time, the Pillar of States, the Pillar of Death. Finally, the very focus of the others, was the sad rubble that had once been the Pillar of Balance. Its pile was slightly higher then the others, collapsed on top of what remained of his imperial throne. Once that throne had been the very centre of the Empire and from which he had ruled all the known world. Courts of Vampires from all the clans had vied with each other for the favor of the one who sat upon that throne.

Staring at it now, its presence seemed ridiculous. It was a foolish addendum he had had crafted on top and around the existing Pillar stump. He had defaced a site older than most civilizations and all so he could enjoy a gaudy, insanely overdramatic throne to impress the Vampires which served him. What made it even just that little bit more sad was the fact that it hadn't even been that comfortable a seat.

The first thing he was going to do once the Pillars were remade would be to have this thing removed to leave the place as its original designers had intended. But there Kain caught himself and smiled wryly. This all supposed on both his still being alive to implement such changes and that there would be new Pillars to enact them on. That of course, was still to be determined.

Reaching up behind one shoulder Kain grasped the hilt of the blade slung at his back and drew it forth. It responded with a low steely growl, barely audible, as the entity within surged with wakefulness and power at being handled. With his hand firmly grasping the hilt, the power of spirit within him merged with that of the entity and the blade hummed with ravenous, cleansing power. A flicker of white light ran down the length of the sword, illuminating more of the chamber and casting its wielder's face in more defined shadows. With a grim frown he gazed along the length of the Soul Reaver in deep contemplation

There was no going back now. The Tempus Crux, the lens of time, the very artifact which had made timetravel through such devices as the Chronoplast possible had been destroyed. It had been struck by the tool which had created it and had shattered, bringing down the city of Fanum-Divus with it. There would be no second chance now. No meddling with paradoxes and causality to try and undo the constrictions of fate. This was a unique time, one that would never come again. The coin had struck the earth and was turning on its edge, ready to fall.

But this coin toss was at the very least more honest than any he had faced before. Always before the game had been rigged, each side of the coin being a doom of equal proportions. It had taken journeys back and forth across the ages of Nosgoth itself to make that particular coin land on its edge. This time the coin had no edge. This time the coin would either fall one way or the other. The odds were an even split and that unnerved Kain more than anything. Having the odds against you and struggling against them was one thing, but having an even chance of death or salvation was simply torture to the nerves.

Still though, was this not the toss of the coin he had worked for? The only fair coin toss to ever be given to him throughout his entire existence? A chance at a game where fairness had been guaranteed from the outset? Indeed it was, but that did not mean that his enemy would not do everything within their power to cheat. That however was a more pleasant thought. If he felt nervous about the upcoming contest then they must be outright petrified. For they had had the benefit of a rigged system for so very long, but now they were faced with the outright possibility of their losing. The fear gripping their souls had to be beyond description.

Kain set the Reaver point down on the floor, resting his hands upon the hilt, gazing thoughtfully at the rubble that had once been the Pillar of Balance. Perhaps that then might be the key to final victory, to play upon that fear, to turn it against them, to make their terror of losing into a self-fulfilling prophecy. After all, when gripped by fear and panic, even the best of strategic masterminds made mistakes.

A soft scuffling noise caught his attention, a scrape of a hard material over stone. It had been barely audible but the total silence of the chamber it had been enough to draw notice. Kain turned his head slightly to gaze back over his left shoulder from whence the noise had come, one of the many arched alcoves over which the clan banners were hung. There was a patch of darkness there more dense then the rest of the surrounding shadows, but from the centre of this patch two pure white eyes watched him; so bright they stood out easily in the gloom.

Kain's lips parted in a wry smile.

"So what say you, Raziel?" He asked, his voice echoing as he raised one hand from the Reaver's hilt and gestured towards the debris strewn display before him. "Do you think this calamity can be salvaged?"

The intruder made no immediate move, continuing to stare from the darkness for a few contemplative moments. Then it began forward, slipping into the dim light and revealing its emaciated almost skeletal cobalt body, the eyes blazing from behind bangs of raven black hair and over the rim of a once proud Razielim banner wrapped about the shoulders.

It still struck Kain that itwas nothing short of a miracle that Raziel was here, standing with him at this crucial time. After he had witnessed him drawn into the Soul Reaver, to become the ravenous entity trapped within, he had feared him lost; forever trapped in a loop of despair and madness. But it had not been so. Raziel's spirit had endured the Reaver and as the mysterious wraith blade had cured Kain of the curse of Nupraptor's poisonous corruption. Within Kain's body and soul he had lain dormant, until freed by the actions of his first Divus incarnation.

"If the Forge can do what it's reported to do." The blue wraith replied but with the tone of one not quite covinced themselves. Standing with one hand resting on his skeletal hip, Raziel looked over the debris, skepticism clear in his featureless but expressive eyes. "Vorador seems convinced."

Kain grunted. "Yes, he does." He reclasped his hands over the Reaver's hilt. "But I will only be satisfied when I see it perform its function with no lackluster debut."

Raziel stepped up onto the Pillar's circular platform, kicking aside a piece of rubble with one foot.

"And what joyous fun it would be for us..." He mused with dripping sarcasm, coming up by Kain's side. "To come this far only to discover our saving grace to be little more than enthusiastically embraced snake oil."

Kain started to laugh but stopped himself when the returning echoes threatened to rise to an unearthly din.

"I suppose then that we must simply trust Vorador and the Seer in this." He mused. Raziel cocked his head to one side giving his once lord and master a sidelong look.

"And there is the crucial word." The blue wraith observed flatly. "Trust." The two of them exchanged look over that observation.

"Yes, quite." Kain agreed, tapping his talons against one another as he held the Reaver's hilt. His lips were pursed in grim reflection, humor abandoning him. "No one in this alliance of ours really trusts one another, do they?"

"Of course not. But can you truly blame any of them?" Raziel asked. Kain just shook his head.

"No." He admitted.

"The Humans are especially nervous." At that the Vampire let out a grunt, his eyes rolling skyward.

"They're a herd of sheep surrounded by wolves. I'd be more surprised if they weren't."

Raziel folded his arms over his bony chest, lowering his head.

"And the Hylden are barely holding themselves back from...cultural differences...with any other Vampire group you care to name." He added. Kain could not help himself from smiling.

"Ah, good old fashioned xenophobia and generational hatred." His fangs showed just beyond his dark lips. "Simple and predictable. Refreshing even."

Raziel looked like he was about to say something in reply but he was preempted. Over them both a pale luminescence came into being like a spreading mist. Quickly it gained luster and shape, swelling into being until the slender but powerful form of a woman with long, flowing strawberry blonde hair. Her face an almost flawless beauty, occasionally marred as the left hand side faded to reflect skeletal features.

"If you gentlemen are so worried about the state of current affairs then you ought to be occupied with productive endeavors, not standing here complaining to the shadows." Her soft but firm voice rebuked them both but her eyes were firmly on Kain. Kain gave her a firm level look in response.

"Ariel." He said in as neutral a greeting as he could manage.

The spirit of his predecessor to the position of Balance Guardian and he had, for quite some time and for understandable reasons, not been on the best of terms. Trapped to haunt the Pillars by his decision not to sacrifice himself, she had been mute witness to the rise of his Empire and the slow death of the land itself. Over that immense time they had spoken very little and those infrequent conversations had been filled with accusations, denunciations and bitterness.

Now however things had changed. Through some method that was not clear at all to him, Ariel had become bound to Raziel. She was one with him, haunting his very essence as much as she had haunted the Pillars before hand. In their joining however he could clearly see a union of kindred spirits, a melding together which had gone some way to helping them both heal from the wounds inflicted by fate upon them. He did not know exactly how far that went in terms of engagement but he suspected neither of them wished to ever undo what had been done.

"Not going to join us in our nostalgic melancholy, even for a moment?" Kain asked, nodding whimsically toward the rubble of the Pillars. Her ghostly visage steadfastly refused to look at them. Instead she merely furrowed the image of her brow in disdain.

"My entire mortal life revolved about this place." Her voice was suddenly flat and tightly controlled, almost repressed. Raziel turned his head to look up at her as if sensing the change. "It was the only thing above all else, even my own personal feelings, to which my entire being was devoted. I wish for nothing more then its full restoration." Finally Ariel did turn to look, but only sparingly. One glance and she turned away again with a shudder that shook her image. "But I can't bare to see it this way and remember it as it was while I do. Not after that long a residence."

Kain regarded her a long silent moment, before looking back at the rubble. Now that she had voiced such a feeling he could not help but find that same repugnance in himself. Suddenly it seemed distasteful in the extreme to be standing here bemoaning the cherished past. She was quite correct. He had little time to brood in the darkness while the fate of Nosgoth hung so precariously in the balance. The Divus and their Ark had finally come.

"Then into the fray we must go." He said forcefully, lifting the serpentine blade of the Reaver and laying it against his shoulder. There was no hiding from it now. He would either return here to this place a conqueror with the cure to rid Nosgoth of its terminal illness, or he would not return here at all.

"Tell me Raziel, are you prepared to sacrifice yourself for me again?" The Vampire asked, unable to stop himself. The blue wraith gave him an almost unfriendly direct look in return.

"Only if you're prepared to return the gesture, this time." Was Raziel's very blunt response.


	2. The Forgotten Legions

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 **Part One**

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 **Chapter One - The Forgotten Legions.**

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Bolts of lightning crisscrossed the sky, shooting back and forth in a seeming endless exchange of light through the sluggishly spiralling clouds. Each crack of arching light was a different hue and intensity than the one before it, some weaker some stronger, so the flashes were never the same from moment to moment. The clouds themselves bubbled like steam escaping boiling hot water. The wind blew harshly from both east and west, coming together in the maelstrom and churning to produce the dark electric spiral.

Far below, the waters of the Abyss - the ancient place of execution for the weaklings and traitors of Kain's Empire - churned endless as they had for thousands of years. The whirlpool had widened, many of the cliffs about it collapsing into its yawning great maw. The waters which fed its insatiable appetite plunged hundreds of feet down into total, impenetrable darkness. Thousands of Vampires had met their end thrown into that gaping void and only one being had ever emerged.

Before the dawn of the Empire, this expanse of water had been a lonely, seldom inhabited spot east of Vasserbünde. Its waters had fed the trees and swampy undercurrent of the Termagent Forest, sustaining Nosgoth's dark, wild and unnavigable heart for many centuries. No Human civilisation had flourished there, and only Vorador's self serving debauched court had called it home. This was the Lake of the Dead and for the dead it was kept.

Not long after the fall of the Pillars however, the waters of that silent forgotten lake dramatically changed. The land seemed to fall away beneath it and the rivers which fed the lake instead churned their might down to feed the opening mouth of the terrible abyss. It was like an open wound upon Nosgoth itself, an infected sore which only grew and grew as long as it went untreated.

Now however the abyss formed the epicentre of an unnatural storm which could only be the product of the Divus. From out of the very bottom gaping maw of the whirlpool rose a pulsing column of almost neon blue light. It was a sheer beam which lanced from the darkest depths of the whirlpool to pierce the sky itself. Around this throbbing shaft of light both water and cloud circled as if drawn into orbit.

Suspended in the centre of the column, halfway between ground and sky, was the elegant golden form of the Ark. The great celestial vessel, shaped to resemble a pair of sweeping swans wings curving in upon themselves, was the product of an artistic genius. Even from a great distance the individual feathers on those wings could be observed in fine detail. Yet despite its beauty, despite its exquisite and unearthly splendour, the sight of it just hovering there was enough to fill Kain with the deepest of dreads.

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 **"This storm seemed to have brewed out of nowhere. But perhaps it had always been there, subtly growing in the background, un-noticed in the rush and distraction of seemingly more important diversions. Now it raged in full fury around the Abyss, the Ark itself acting as its eye. That was surely not a coincidence."**

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The amassed and combined forces of Vampires, Hylden and Humanity, even with their races' individually reduced numbers, was a sizeable army. Crossing the northern mountain range and coming this far south had been a drive which had taken some time, especially as the Humans were slowed down by much of their number being made up of women and children. With the aid of Serioli wings and Hylden technology however, they had made it in time.

Now that expanse of allies was encamped around the battered and blood stained walls of the Human Citadel, just to the north of the Abyss. From the plateaus and rocky crags they could see the abyss and its unearthly eruption of light with ease, an elevation which allowed them to observe without being directly seen. Perhaps if necessary it could serve a defensive barrier but Kain did not favour it being that decisive a factor if the Divus decided to make a hostile move. They would not need to rely on conventional military practises.

Kain had heard of course what Uriel-Divus had done to the Human citadel, how he had tricked his way into the confidence of the desperate people living there, bent their leaders to his will before betraying them. From their dead he had raised a near limitless army of undead thralls and marched them north, intending to crush the forces assembling before the dark mountain of Schwarzkern. Any who defied him and his commands were put to death instantly and added to the growing hoard of undead.

General Skelim had rushed what civilians he could out of the citadel and with this rag tag group of survivors had fled north ahead of the advancing army in hopes of finding sanctuary with the only other Human group, the practical Forsaken hunters. Now they had returned to see the fortified keep which had shielded them from the Vampire menace and at the sight of it, Kain understood grimly why none of them wanted to set foot in it again.

The walls of the citadel had been darkened in many patches around arrow silts and parapets by the spilling of masses of blood. Even after the carnage had dried up the signs remained vividly and the smell, especially to a Vampire nose, was that of a charnal house. Within there were no full corpses, for dead bodies were a resource Uriel had not wasted, but instead scattered Human debris was far more evident. Internal organs, wads of flesh, bones, torn skin and patches of hair were to be found in every street and building. Crows and other carrion birds, the only animals to do well in this era of death, had settled into the abandoned city to take advantage of the feast.

The tombs and graves beneath the Citadel had been broken open. Every coffin, every sarcophagus and burial had been raided for corpses. Not a single body had been left behind. The Citadel had been raped, living and dead alike. In the end it had not been any Vampire or even an army of Vampires which had brought to the Citadel its final death, but rather the empty promise of an opportunistic charlatan preying upon the desires of desperate people.

Upon the battlement overlooking the main gate, the seemingly only way in or out of the citadel, was the only person who had ventured inside the fort and remained there for any appreciable length of time. She had gone there the moment the allies had arrived and there she remained, simply staring down at the large open courtyard from beneath the wide brim of a replacement hat she had acquired. That was where Kain found her, dressed in black as usual and with her face shadowed by the wide brim of her hat.

Kain stood there in her presence for perhaps an entire minute in complete silence. Then just as he began to wonder if she were going to totally ignore him she began to speak.

"I knew what Uriel intended to do when I helped him propose his leadership to these people." Ophiel, former Divus, said in a voice which barely rose above a fluttering whisper. Her gaze never left the courtyard below, locked onto it as if drawn there by a powerful compulsion. "I betrayed my people here."

"Your people are the slaves of Fanum-Divus." Kain replied in a voice that expressed neither compassion nor rebuke, guardedly neutral.

"All human beings are my people." She told him and there was a catch in her voice. It spoke of tightly repressed grief. "I just couldn't afford to reveal myself. It wasn't time."

This part Kain had heard from Raziel, how she had defected to their side at a crucially important moment. Her surprise attack had enabled Raziel to reclaim the book of his first incarnation, thereby reclaiming his memories and with them full knowledge of the plans of the enemy. Since he had first met her, Kain had suspected there was more to Ophiel then had seemed apparent.

"So you had to play the role of the Divus enslaver." He concluded for her, arms folded over his chest. There was another moment of contemplative silent before Ophiel finally looked up from her vigil. The dim evening light fell across her face and she looked dreadful, red rings formed beneath her eyes.

"The citadel people look at me with such naked hatred in their eyes." She told him, her gaze hazy as if through eyes which were constantly on the verge of crying. "And I earned every bit of it." Kain tilted his head to the side giving her a sardonic smile.

"Regrets, Ophiel?" He asked. That made her turn her head sharply to look at him, her lips suddenly pursed together to prevent herself from emitting a protest. He met her gaze with a flat look, inviting her to speak up and vent that objection.

"Of course I have regrets, Vampire." Ophiel finally said in such a controlled manner Kain could not help but be impressed by her self control. "How could I not? Don't you? After so long and having been through so much?" Her question, perhaps not unexpected, stung all the more for its relevancy.

Unbidden distinct and powerful memories flashed one after the other before his eyes. Once more he was there before the awaiting Pillars, filled with disgust and anger, as he rejected Ariel's call to sacrifice himself. Again he found himself standing over Umah's battered and broken body as she begged him to save her life and he answered her request with death. Then again he stood in the Sanctuary of the Clans staring at the dead stumps of the Pillars, inert and lifeless as the world around them. Then finally he stood on the edge of the abyss itself as his first born son was dragged to that place of execution and he gave the order to cast him in.

The gaze he directed at Ophiel was one of mixed contempt, irritation and shame. That last addition to the mixture just made his anger rise all the more.

"Naïve girl, you don't know what regret really is." Kain said, barely bothering to conceal his spite before turning away to leave Ophiel wallowing in her self recriminations. "Not yet anyway."

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"Well? Report." Lorenzo of the Forsaken asked flatly as the runner came staggering into the small encampment, almost spilling head over heals into the campfire. The man was one of his own men, one of the Forsaken Vampire hunters. He was filthy, covered in ash and dirt and struggling for breath. Kain could smell him from across the campfire. The man tried to find his breath, spluttering hoarsely, before taking a deep breath.

"No move yet, Coordinator." He blurted out in a raspy voice. "The dragon circles the ship, but has simply stood guard. No other movement besides that." Lorenzo nodded in response, unhappily. It was the same as the last few reports. No movement. No reaction from their enemy at all. The wait was unnerving. Kain's grip tightened around the grip of his sword involuntarily.

"Get back to the edge and keep sending reports. Tell Skelim I want continual updates at least every thirty minutes." Lorenzo told his runner, clapping him on the shoulder with the metal palm of his artificial hand. The man took several large gulps of breath before he raised a hand to salute. The hand trembled.

"Yes, Coordinator." He responded and staggered away as quickly as his shaky legs could carry him. Lorenzo watched him go with a frown before turning back with his hands on his hips to face the others gathered around the fire.

The figures stood or seated in a ring were perhaps the most diverse group of beings to have come together in the history of Nosgoth. Kain was there of course, sat on the edge of a supply crate with the Reaver in his grasp before him. Raziel was beside him, crouched by the fire edge in a seeming attitude of relaxation, poking the fire occasionally with a talon to stir it up. The enigmatic Vorador on the other side of him. Umah stood to their right and the towering, bulking form of Balam of Clan Turelim sat to their left with his large arms crossed over his knee. He was by far the largest there in terms of sheer bulk.

The winged Vampires were all huddled in a group further along. Ajatar Cadre, Grandmaster of the Serioli, had sketched out a crude map of the geography around the abyss in the dirt with a stick. Her right hand, the warrior Ansu with his golden axe, was beside her using a grindstone on the blade of his weapon. Janos was beside them, looking over Ajatar's map with a frown creasing his face. Out of all of them Janos was the one who had surprised Kain the most with how much he had changed, become less the priestly observer and more vehement and progressive.

Across the fire from the Vampires were the four representatives from the Hylden race, whose forces watched the Humans and Vampires alike with hawkish suspicion. Enlil of the broken horn, leader of the House of War, was pacing up and down in clear irritation. Her two half sisters sat nearer the fire. Kishar of the House of Faith, with her calm almost serene demeanour, had her eyes locked onto the dancing flames. Tiamatu, leader of the House of Knowledge, was leaning around the fire to talk with Ajatar. She had been the only Hylden so far to perfect the art of growing flight capable wings.

The two of them, Ajatar and Tiamatu, Kain had been watching very closely. Nothing had been said of course and he had not seen no displays of excessive affection but he had caught the way they looked at each other, how each seemed to brighten in spirit whenever the other was around. Perhaps neither of them had realised it yet but he doubted it would be too much longer before one or both of them guessed it. When that happened then it would undoubtedly have serious but interesting consequences.

The fourth Hylden sat upon a boulder nearby, watching everyone gathered there with a small but smug little smile. Kain had always known her simply as 'the Seer', but her real name was Damkina. She was a princess, current ruler of her people. She had cause to smirk, for without her machinations, Kain was ruefully forced to admit, this alliance would likely not have been possible. Her skilled manipulations had been on par with those of Moebius himself, although ultimately she had proved far more altruistic. Through her the Hylden had set aside their racial hatred, at least for the moment, to join their forces with those of the Vampires in order to save themselves from annihilation at the hands of the Divus.

It still felt strange, even unnatural, to see so many from so different races, classes and food chain positions gathered together in common cause. For most of his existence Kain had considered Human beings to be little more than food stock, animals to be husbanded for the benefit of Vampiric civilisation. Now they were valued and necessary allies against a common foe. They had fought together, side by side and Kain had found himself impressed by their ingenuity and resourcefulness. Perhaps, he reflected, he had been a Vampire for so long he had forgotten the true strength of Humanity.

Enlil suddenly cursed loudly and kicked a small rock with her good leg, sending it clattering loudly against the side of a boulder.

"Its been hours now and they've just sat there on their blasted Ark. Why?!" She demanded into the startled silence that followed, all heads turned to look at her. The outburst helped to break the tension and give voice to the thought that was going through everyone's mind.

"Given what we know, I can think of only one reason for a delay." Lorenzo replied grimly, stepping up to the fire and picking up a metal pole he had stuck close to it. Screwed on the pole was the roasting carcass of a crow, plucked clean and crisping. He took a bite out of it, chewing greasily.

"The Equinox." Ajatar finished for him in a flat voice, folding her arms over her knees.

"Yes, they must be waiting until it approaches." Kain agreed with a nod.

The city of Fanum-Divus had existed outside of the flow of regular time, in a slender stable bubble and had been suspended between two voids of ultimate possibility. Above the city had been the white void, the expression of everything that existed or ever would exist. It was the ultimate personification of all time and space. Below the city had been its opposite, the black void, which represented the utter oblivion of total nothingness. No time, no space; simple nullification.

The Equinox was an event so rare that eons upon eons would go by without it occurring, but when it did those two ultimate voids would come together. This connection of the two voids would unleash a torrent of naked power that would shake the universe. If not prevented, the Divus and their so called God would harness this power and use it to propel their Ark across the sea of the cosmos to fresh worlds to rape. Their doing so, with Nosgoth so depleted and damaged, would render their world a dead dry husk incapable of supporting even disease.

"How long do we have, Raziel?" Kain asked, turning to give his once first born vampiric son a look. Raziel folded his arms over his chest, his talons drumming contemplatively on his forearms. Since regaining the memories of his first incarnation, the once king of the Divus, he was their only source of knowledge about the Equinox.

"I can't be exact, only their God knew the timing of that event for absolute certain." He admitted. "But if the memories I regained are correct, probably no more than three to four days at most."

His announcement caused a low, dark murmur to circle those around the campfire. Many faces were grim.

"Finally, a date for their Promised Day." Kishar muttered, knitting her fingers before her face before resting her chin on them.

"So do they intend to just sit there until its time for them to begin their journey, leaving Nosgoth to die behind them?" Enlil asked, her hands on her hips and her impatience born irritation

"I doubt they're that sanguine about their position, Enlil." The Seer remarked, causing the red headed Hylden to turn sharply to look back at her. "You forget that our raid resulted in the total destruction of Fanum-Divus. Such a thing would have been inconceivable for them. It will have shaken them down to the core." She swept them all with a look, clearly addressing everyone to make sure her point was collectively understood. "They will not simply wait out the hours until they can harness the Equinox, giving us time to amount any sort of attack."

"No they will not." Lorenzo agreed, turning his cooked bird back and forth and studying it as the charred meat held the answer to their dilemma. "If I were in their position, I would want us at the very least distracted and engaged so as to not pose a threat to the Ark."

"Do we actually have any means of raiding their vessel?" Balam asked in his deep voice coming from the depths of his barrel chest.

"On the face of it, I would say no." Lorenzo answered. He took another bite of his food, chewing messily and getting grease caught in his beard. "Only a select proportion of our combined force is capable of flight and we would need every iota of it in order to be successful. Presuming we have enough force at all." He shrugged one shoulder. "If only we had a few dozen of the Endurance to mount such an attack."

"And there is still the Dragon to contend with. The ultimate sentinel." Janos put in, before turning to look at Vorador. "The only priority we should be considering right now is remaking the Pillars. Once restored they will shield Nosgoth from the force of the Equinox."

"Or at least that is what you said." Balam added with a grunt, giving Raziel a sidelong flat and hostile look. The blue wraith returned the Turelim's gaze without a word.

"It pains me to admit it, but you're right. We need the Pillars restored." Kishar put in, her face creased in a frown of bitter reluctance. For the Hylden the Pillars were no symbols of hope and life but were instead the hard, unyielding lock upon a terrible cage which had engulfed them for centuries. The only reason they were permitting their restoration was the assurance that they would not be used against their species again, but for a whole new collective purpose. "We have both the Forge and its Ignitor now, do we not? We ought put them to use immediately!"

Ajatar and Vorador exchanged a look during the brief silence that followed. Slowly all heads turned to them.

"Unfortunately obtaining them and putting them to use are two different things." Vorador finally began, unwrapping the clothe wrapped item he had been negligently holding. Inside was the Ignitor, the strange pearl like orb which was the key to the use of the Forge. The sight of it made Kain involuntarily flinch, for he had seen this orb many times before in less then cordial circumstances. As far as he was concerned this so called Ignitor was still nothing more than the orb atop Moebius' staff, an artefact which had been the instrument of no less then three mass Vampire genocides; one of which came perilously close to the total extinction of his species.

"They are both relics made by Ukko, the greatest elemental smith the Serioli had ever known." Ajatar explained as Vorador held the orb up in one hand, quite gingerly as if not wanting to activate it by mistake. "Their construction and usage are complex on a level that escapes even me."

There was a very long pause, broken only by the crackling of the flames. Everyone was staring at the two of them with varied expressions of startled consternation.

"You mean to say... we finally have the tools to our salvation but we are too ignorant to use them?!" Balam asked incredulously, rising up to one knee from his sitting position; his large ears flaring out either side of his head.

"A grim assessment but essentially correct." Vorador said but then added quickly; "I am confident with sufficient time to study, the method of their usage will become evident."

"Provided that study time is less than three or four days!" Balam fumed back and Kain could see the group about him were close to breaking into a heated argument. Above all else that needed to be headed off, as the alliance this group represented was already perilously filled with tension. Quickly he raised his voice before anyone else could say another word.

"The only military option we have at the moment should be to move south and immediately fortify the sanctuary of the clans. We need to hold the Pillars until we're ready to proceed." It was a flawed, simplistic assessment and he knew it but it provided a distraction so that attentions were turned from bitterness and anger.

"They will know what we intend. They'll throw everything they have at us as soon as we do that." Enlil replied with a sneer of annoyance.

"It would be better if we spread out and surround the Abyss." Ajatar recommended, gesturing down to the crude map she had been drawing in the dirt before her. She made a circular motion with a talon about the pebble being used to denote the position of the Abyss. "That will worry them, cause them to commit their forces to trying to break our siege on their ship. They won't have a mind to think about what else we may be doing."

Lorenzo took another bite of his charred bird and gazed out over the various small encampments which half ringed the walls of the Citadel. The various different races and sub groupings within those races had all divided off and formed little circles of their own. Some were hard to tell apart from a distance, but others like the hulking giants of the Turelim, were simple to make out even in silhouette. All in all their combined numbers, at least to Kain's estimate, averaged out at roughly twenty five thousand.

"I think we have the military power to do that." The Forsaken leader said, then chuckled as if to himself. "They don't want us near their ship and we don't want them near the Pillars. Militarily the goals of our enemy and ourselves are all but identical. Strange isn't it?" His observation provoked a chuckle from around the fire by the less stiff faced of those present. Enlil still frowned about in irritation. That one seemed incapable of being pleased.

Kain however was similar in finding little reason to smile. While Ajatar's strategy seemed sound he preferred to take the concept further. In his mind, it would be better to attack the Ark with whatever aerial force they could muster. Perhaps if they had the element of surprise they could strike hard, do as much damage as possible, then retreat with minimal loss. That would serve far better to keep the Divus occupied than simply forming a circle around their vessel and hoping to contain them.

Time was what they needed and there was precious little of that. Everything now relied on Vorador and Ajatar. Only their Serioli skills could unlock the secrets of the Forge and allow new Pillars to be raised. Kain found himself smiling as the thought provoked a memory. So long ago he had met the first Balance Guardian, Ba'al Zebur. The way he had spoken of intents and final plans, Kain had little doubt that almost everything had proceeded as his ultimate predecessor had laid out. Kain did not know whether this plan had come from Ba'al, Ashar or ultimate the enigmatic Keeper himself, but there was no denying that following it had produced tangible results.

His gaze shifted slightly until it rested on Umah. She returned his stare slyly, lips curled up in a smug little smile. Her restoration to flesh, bounded with the spirit of the Hylden king Ashar, had given to her full knowledge of that plan and how to implement it. That knowledge had been vital in both learning of the forge and of organising the raid upon Fanum-Divus. Kain however wondered exactly how much of the plan Umah knew that perhaps she was withholding from him. He trusted her and Ba'al's intentions only up to a point.

His thoughts were interrupted however when another of the human runners came almost tumbling into the firelight.

"Coordinator!" The man called out, struggling his way towards Lorenzo. The leader of the Forsaken turned to him at once, catching the man on the side of the arm to stop him from falling over.

"There's been a change?" Lorenzo demanded sharply and the man nodded vigorously, his face pale.

"Yes! A sort of door opened in the side of the ship!" He proclaimed. Everyone around the fire went silent and Kain quickly rose to his face, his face implacable.

-0-

 **"It would seem my enemy was indeed going to make the first move. Thus began the game."**

-0-

Before another word could be said by anyone, Kain's entire body dispersed into a cloud of bats; rising up into the air quickly before soaring forward. As a cloud of flying animals he travelled swiftly, covering the relatively short distance over rugged and unpredictable terrain before he arrived at the forward lookout position set up by the scouts. The position was little more than a small encampment hidden amongst the rocks atop one of the highest cliffs overlooking the great whirlpool. It was an excellent position from which to observe without being noticed.

The Ark loomed, a gigantic presence in its column of sterilizing blue radiance. Its golden hull gleamed brightly over each delicate feather of the two curving wings which flowed down either side. He had seen it only once before this close, when he had been attempting to escape Fanum-Divus the first time. It had been under construction still then, worked over by an ant like swarm of the golden haired slave sub species of humans. Now he stood in its complete majesty and its size and power radiated over him gigantically.

General Skelim, the straight jawed commander of those Humans left after the purge of the Citadel, started up violently when the cloud of bats came funnelling down into his encampment. His hand instantly went to his sword hilt but he paused when the bats came together and Kain reformed, but he did not slacken his grip from his weapon. There were several armed hunters all about them and then tension in the air became suddenly tense. The humans of the Citadel, despite agreeing to an alliance of mutual survival, had be no means forgotten their centuries of warfare against the Empire of the Vampire which had subjected them.

"Don't be stupid!" Kain snapped angrily, putting all the force of command he had learned over a thousand years into his voice. He was not going to waste precious time now on their fears and resentments. The effect was palpable as the men all about them flinched backwards and Skelim hesitated noticeably. "What is happening?"

The general drew himself up, his face still scornfully resentful, before he turned and pointed out over the edge of the cliffs.

"See for yourself, on the vessel's starboard bow." He said. Kain took the few steps past him until he could see the full extent of the Ark, suspended above the constantly curving waterfalls. It did not take him long to notice what had provoked the alarm.

A door had indeed opened, although perhaps 'door' was the wrong word. The surface of the Ark's hull had peeled back as the segments that made up the golden feathers had separated and then withdrawn into the ship itself, leaving a large rectangular opening. The aperture was perhaps about a hundred feet in length and seventy in width, level with a level patch of cliffs to the east.

The flapping of wings diverted Kain's attention for a moment and turning his head he watched as the body of a black winged raven burst forth into Vorador's more familiar form. The elder Vampire quickly came to Kain's side and Kain wordlessly pointed out the opening to him. Vorador spotted it at once and nodded, frowning in confusion.

"What are they doing?" He asked in a low voice, almost inaudible over the roar of the waterfalls.

"They're coming to destroy us. That is the only thing on their agenda." The would be Emperor of Nosgoth replied gratingly.

Suddenly two large poles of shining metal stabbed forth from the bottom corners of the opening, lengthening as they travelled with a hiss of scraping metal loud enough to be heard over the waterfalls. With force the two spear like poles slammed into the cliff and stuck there. Barely a moment later, sheets of metal began unfolding between them. Like a wave these sheets interlocked and overlaid one another, creating a firm, solid catwalk linking the Ark with the top of the cliff. Kain drew his lips back over his teeth in a scowl of anger. As elaborate as it was he knew a gangplank when he saw one.

"With what? Without Fanum-Divus they can make no more Hommucli and their slaves defected to our side. What possible army could they have?" Vorador asked with perplexity as the two Vampires, with curiously anxious Humans either side of them, watched the events unfolding.

Kain was about to remark on the possibilities that came to mind when the sound began. It was soft at first, a rhythmic thudding that one might almost think was a part of the Abyss' roaring chorus. But then it began to grow steadily louder, accompanied by an intense vibration that began causing small pebbles all about them to dance across the ground. It was a familiar sound. Kain had heard it before when his own forces had been on the march. It was the sound of many thousands of feet walking in unison.

Then they emerged, the first ranks stepping forth from the opening and onto the bridge. A gleaming grow of black and red armour, shields held at their sides, their form spiked like the thorns of a rose across shoulders and a full face concealing helmet. The first row came forth, a hundred men walking side by side. Then came the second row, identical to the first in every way. Then the third. Then the Forth. Then the rows were beyond counting as a steady stream of armoured men, a seemingly never ending flood of them, marched out of the Ark to set foot upon Nosgoth.

"What in the world!?" Skelim breathed, rising from his position on Vorador's left, his eyes widening in stunned amazement.

The army kept on coming, spilling out onto the eastern cliff like an grinding implacable avalanche. But they did not stop, rank after identical rank of soldiers was marching forth from the Ark's belly and showed no sign of stopping. Their numbers swelled to beyond counting in minutes. Thousands of men, tens of thousands, easily. So many of them marching in almost perfect disciplined unison that the ground itself vibrated beneath the tread of their unceasing passage.

Evidentially the Divus had possessed knowledge and memory of defunct timelines, for Kain recognised the deliberate homage being paid by the visage of these soldiers instantly. He was in fact the only living being outside the Divus ranks who could recognise them. It had been eons since he had faced this army in battle, upon a blood soaked field where the hope for a free Nosgoth died with the fall of King Ottmar. By traveling into the past and murdering the invading army's king before he could even consider mounting such aggressive military campaigns he had erased that army from existence. But now here they were, revived in both body and spirit by the Divus for the final climatic confrontation.

"Oh...how very appropriate!" Kain remarked, grinning from ear to ear as he faced down the full might of the Legions of the Nemesis.


	3. We Stand Together

-0-

Chapter 2 - "We stand together."

-0-

The legion swarmed out of the Ark and across the cliffs of the Abyss like a rolling black carpet, a tide of voracious insects. Within minutes they had swamped the cliff top until they ringed half the whirlpool, spreading out to form orderly blocks of perhaps a hundred by a hundred; all in disciplined lines shoulder to shoulder. They moved purposely, each soldier a single part of a large oozing beast. They made no sound save for the clanking of their armour and the sound of their synchronized footsteps. They were a mass of gathering, pulsating, silent death.

From the cliffs opposite, across the stretch of the Abyss, Skelim was staring at the gathering of military force with his mouth dropped open. His face had turned deathly pale and his arms shook at his sides. In an instant he had turned from battle hardened and well scared veteran into a stunned, frightened novice. The man's hands gripped the rock upon which he perched so hard the leather of his gloves creaked loudly, even more so when a bolt of lightning shot across the sky overhead and cast a gleam upon thousands of armoured bodies. That brief moment revealed the heads of countless numbers of ready and waiting soldiers.

"There...there must be thousands of them!" He blurted out in a strangled, hoarse voice. Beside him, Vorador had been observing the disembarking army with a far calmer demeanour but no less alarm. His long face was set into hard, grim lines and his lips were pulled back to exposed his fangs.

"I personally lost count at five hundred thousand." The old Vampire admitted, his own voice tightly controlled. "And there are twice as many now since then."

Crouched to one side, Kain contemplated that fact with his face wearing a grim sort of ironic smile.

"Where did they get an army such as this?" He mused to himself, his gaze wandering across the expanse of that gathering military. "Were they hiding it in the bowels of Fanum-Divus?" He had not had enough time to survey all of the strange city before it was destroyed, but surely if the Divus had had this overwhelming a force to call upon surely they would have used it in their defence during the raid. Or perhaps, Kain mused, this was the force on the Ark that Asmodeus had been so anxious to call upon but had been denied by his Master?

"Ophiel would have told us if they were." Vorador said with some force, then added with an ironic twist; "Presumably." He turned his head to look at Kain with a very grim frown creasing his brow. "Kain, they outnumber us by at least five to one."

Kain did not need to be a genius at mathematics to see that. Even combined, the Vampires, Hylden and Humans had suffered too many losses to match such an army. The Humans had had their numbers drastically reduced by Uriel-Divus' deceit, the Vampires in all their diversity had suffered many attacks and the Hylden's population had been cut into by the devastating attack Thantos had launched on their colony in the ruins of Avernus. then as if summoned by the thought, the shadow of the Dragon swept down from the top of the golden Ark to circle over the gathering black army; a sentinel and ravaging vanguard for this force of ultimate extermination.

-0-

 **"So here I was, once more facing the terrible oncoming black tide of the Legions of the Nemesis. No doubt the William of that alternative defunct timeline would have been proud of the homage being paid to him. But I had no intention of making the same military blunder Ottmar made, to face that overwhelming force in open combat. A direct battle would only result in total annihilation."**

-0-

Kain watched as Thanatos circled around the gathering army once before the beast came to the head of the force and hovered there, flapping its immense wings vertically to keep itself bobbing up and down in the air. Suspended before the army it opened its massive jaws and roared, the angry bestial call echoing even over the thunderous rolling drumbeat of the waterfalls. At that signal the black armoured men far below turned as one and began a steady forced march around the edge of the Abyss. Like an oily black snake they came, moving inexorably around the edge of the cliffs and towards the north west; towards them.

"Pull your men back and reconvene with Lorenzo and the other Humans." Kain told Skelim in as neutral a tone of voice as he could manage, slipping back from the edge of the cliff before standing up. Everyone else followed his example, but did not divert their eyes from their oncoming mass which shook the ground with its combined footsteps.

"We're running away, aren't we?" One of the Humans breathed, turning to look at his general with frightened eyes staring out from behind a rusty metal visor. Skelim had pursed his lips until they turned white.

"The term is tactical withdrawal." He said slowly, then turned sharply to glare back over his shoulder as Kain could not help but let a short laugh escape him.

"No, Skelim." The Emperor of Nosgoth stated with flat, ironic amusement at the whole deplorable situation. "Make no mistake, we're running. Running for our lives." He strode past all the staring men, paying them no need. "I suggest you get a head start."

Between one step and the next Kain's body evaporated back into a cloud of bats, the swarm of wings rising high into the air leaving the men below scrambling to break camp and make a mad dash back to relative safety. All the while the black army kept on coming, its pace steady but unstoppable, each footstep taken crush anything in its path underfoot.

Kain wasted not so much as a moment in returning to the walls of the Human Citadel, driving himself even dispersed across his bat form as fast as he could. When he arrived, concealing once more back together, he discovered the encampments of the alliance been hurriedly taken down. There was a general energetic and tense pandemonium, shouts going back and forth, figures racing about carrying whatever they could grasp. No doubt Vorador had already informed the others about what had happened over the telepathic Whisper.

Quickly Kain's eyes sought out several figures coming towards him and instantly he recognised the familiar forms of Raziel, the former Divus Ophiel, Enlil and the leader of the lycanthropes; the red headed naked feral man Ewoden.

"There's no fighting that force, Raziel." Kain announced when they joined him, firmly shaking his head.

"I didn't suspect there would be." Raziel replied looking equally as grim. He paused, glancing back over his shoulder as several Hylden ran past carrying the rolled up remains of a large tent with a Turelim behind them carrying a large metal gas cylinder for use in Lorenzo's craft the Endurance. "How many?"

"At least a million, if not more." Kain stated and Ewoden stared at him with wide eyes for that stated number.

"A million!?" He hissed in disbelief, his harsh accent so far removed from modern Nosgothic pronunciation that it "That's simply not possible!" Quickly he turned to look at Ophiel, who was frowning in puzzlement beneath the rim of her hat. "There were simply not that many slaves in Fanum-Divus and they all changed sides during the raid. Where did they get that number of soldiers?!" His question was rushed but there was definitely a note of accusation in it towards the end that made the former Divus stiffen. Kain folded his arms and looked at her himself, his expression implacable.

"Ophiel?" He asked, waiting for an answer. Ophiel hesitated as everyone about turned to look at her expectantly. Finally she sighed and reached up to lower her hat brim, shadowing her face all the more.

"I am afraid I can not enlighten you." She said in a voice which seemed to be struggling to maintain its composure. "I knew the Legion was being rebuilt, but it was to be comprised of conscripted slaves." With one hand she gestured behind her, to where a mass of Humans was gathering to pass word amongst each other of the onslaught that was about to descend upon them. "Clearly they have found an alternative, superior means of recruitment."

"The Divus are not to be underestimated, we all knew that." Raziel remarked with a little shake of his head. "So then, 'general'; what do we do?"

Kain ignored the jibe and lowered his chin to his chest in thought. He knew what had to be done of course. There was only one viable option to take in this situation and because it was his only option he distrusted it immensely. He had rarely come out of situations that had only one solution the better for it.

"Fighting that army directly is simply out of the question. We'd be annihilated." He was finally forced to admit. Raising his head, he increased the sound of his voice as he saw two others coming to join them; a returning Vorador and his sire Janos just behind him. Both of them wore almost identical grim expressions. "Our only option is to spilt apart and conceal our forces out in the wilderness where ever we may. Then we can strike when they lower their guard."

His proposed strategy was certainly not without its flaws and he knew that. If they spilt up then they would be unable to concentrate their efforts to achieve their end objective, but the fact was their enemy was at their throats with a superior force and they were not ready. That was the unspoken bitter truth which clearly resonated and did not need to be spoken aloud.

"Guerrilla warfare is a sound tactic when drastically outclassed." Vorador agreed with a sharp nod.

"Outnumbered, not outclassed." Kain quickly added, giving the ancient Vampire a sidelong look. Vorador folded his arms behind his back in his characteristic pose and ignored the stare.

"Your fragile ego aside, I agree with the assessment." He said. "Each race should split up into small groups, spread out through the wilderness and the ruins left by the Clans. Evading discovery needs to be paramount."

"They're not going to give us the time to disperse like that!" Ewoden declared with an angry twitch, his beard curling at the edges in indignation. "They'll crush us before we have a chance to march!"

"And if they don't catch us, Thanatos will." Janos added with a deep scowl.

Kain quickly glanced out over the disorganised rabble before the walls of the abandoned Citadel. He was ruefully forced to concede their point. Even the organised Serioli would need time to flee with whatever they could carry, even less those limited to ground travel. Time was swiftly running out and if he was preserve the alliance and the force he had finally brought together under one banner he would have to do something fairly drastic.

"Then we need to give our enemy a far more tempting target." Kain said, turning his head to look back over his shoulder towards that unearthly blue beam of light rising unbroken into the sky. Lightning was still flickering around it like the churning surf of the thundering whirlpool below. "Something alluring, something they can't ignore. Something they'd ignore everything else in their attempt to reach."

The others around him exchanged some puzzled glances at his words but Raziel kept his penetrating gaze solely on him, eyes narrowing.

"What other target could they possibly have?" Janos asked sceptically. Kain turned back to face them and his lips parted in a sly grin of amusement.

"Me."

It was a reckless scheme; a risky plan with possible dramatic consequences and he knew it. Those he told it too had one of two reactions. They either thought it utter madness surely to end in bloody defeat or they were eager to stand by his side in glorious battle. Unsurprisingly those who had proclaimed their devoted loyalty to him, such as Ajatar, the Serioli and Balam and his Turelim, had the latter reaction. Everyone else was more sceptical, especially the Hylden, who reacted with near universal disdain for the proposal even though Kain knew they would comply; they had no choice. Oddly, the only exception to this was Ewoden and his lycanthropes.

"My pack are ready to carve our way through the Divus ranks. We would rather end our existence fighting then live under their heel again!" Their red headed leader proclaimed with a full chorus of shouts of agreement from his pack.

Out of all the varied subsets which comprised this alliance they were the most odd to Kain's eye. Once they had all been slaves working in the stone quarries, fields, mines and pits of the Ancient Vampires; simple work gangs made tough through years of labour. Then had come Moebius' uprising and they had been recruited to serve in his army as they overthrew the Vampiric masters which had ruled them for generations. Moebius had shown them no loyalty or appreciation however as he had these recruits handed over to the Divus.

They became less then soldiers, less then slaves, even less then people. They became mere test subjects for the amoral and sadistic experiments of Ambraxas-Divus, the only Hylden to achieve that rank. He subjects them to hideous mutations the likes of which Kain did not care to speculate on, until they became feral dogs Moebius could use as beasts of war in his bloody revolt. Once the uprising had achieved its objective, those werewolves which had not escaped into the wild were rounded up and taken to Fanum-Divus. There they remained, surviving as barely tolerated vermin until he and Raziel had discovered them.

Ewoden, their leader, had sworn three oaths to his people once they had recovered enough of their minds to form a basic sort of community. The first oath had been to tear out the heart of Ambraxas Divus and eat it. He had accomplished that when he had aided Raziel in their first infiltration of the as of yet incomplete Ark, where they found Ambraxas' lab and other experiments and the lycanthropes finally had their bloody revenge.

His second oath had been to seek out for them a place they flee to, a sanctuary to call their own. To this end he had for a time ventured into the wilderness of this inert land. He had returned in time for the battle with Uriel's undead, claiming he had found what he had been looking for. Kain did not know exactly what place he could possibly have found in a land which was slowly dying that would satisfy him, but he seemed immensely pleased with himself for accomplishing the deed.

The third and final oath had been to return to his pack and lead them to this discovered new home. The alliance's first military action, the raid which had resulted in the total destruction of the Tempus Crux lens and the city around it, had given him that opportunity. His pack had joined the raiders in the battle and were now part of the grander alliance. Now the Divus' overwhelming counter attack would place all the progress he had made into jeopardy and clearly neither he or his people were willing to tolerate that.

"Admirable." Kain remarked stoically, stepping to one side and gesturing with one hand for Ewoden to follow him. "But for the moment there is a far more pressing need for the skills of your kind."

Ewoden's momentary confusion was exasperated when Kain led him a short distance to where Vorador was waiting for them, grim faced, beside a large pedestal of circular stone. Ewoden recognised it at once of course. Everyone in the alliance had seen this artefact, been promised that it was the one thing which would make all their struggles, sacrifices and torments worthwhile. Pried from its hidden seclusion in the demon realm, this almost begin looking pedestal was the source of all their hopes.

Eons ago this stone pedestal had been the focus of tremendous elemental energies wielded by the greatest smith ever to be known by the Serioli, the grand craftsman Ukko. Through this focus point he had given birth to the designs of the great architect Ba'al Zebur and created the Pillars of Nosgoth themselves. Now both it and the ignitor in Vorador's hands were in their possession and that fact alone probably frightened the Divus beyond anything else.

"The Pillar Forge?" The lycanthrope leader asked in bafflement. His gaze shot back and forth between the two Vampires as he sought an explanation. "But..."

"All I want you and yours to do is to keep this artefact safe. Keep it protected until I can come to find you." Kain told him, his voice intense.

"This is vital, Ewoden. Without this forge, we all die." Vorador added in emphasis, one hand holding the pearl like Ignitor out in front of himself where they could all see it. Ewoden's troubled eyes gazed over it, his lips pursed.

"You trust me so much you would hand such a value over?" His tone was a confused one, as if he wanted to believe his words but was simply to sceptical to do so. Kain returned him a whimsical little smile.

"I trust you not to hand it over to the Divus. That will suffice." He said.

"Aye, I suppose it will have to." Ewoden murmured as if to himself, his face creasing heavily in through. He looked at that circular stone artefact for a prolonged moment of silence before he drew in a breath through his nostrils and exhaled it loudly through his mouth.

"So be it then." He finally said and turned to call back to others of his pack, gesturing for several of them to follow him. The two Vampires stepped back as the pack moved in on Ewoden's order to lift the precious item up and carry it off. Vorador lowered his head and contemplated the Ignitor in his hands, his hands running over its pale luminous surface as they worked. He seemed almost distracted in his unhealthy contemplation of an orb which had had assisted in not only his death but that of countless other Vampires.

"I doubt this is going to work, Kain." He admitted without looking up, looking deep into the orb's subtle facets and shades of colour. Kain didn't respond immediately. In point of fact he himself had a gnawing doubt deep inside him. Faced with such a situation and the overwhelming odds against him, this was either a spectacular plan or it was a foolish endeavour liable to get them all grisly killed. Exactly which would be revealed within the hour. The thud of that oncoming army, the relentless march of their footsteps was growing louder, more intense with every passing minute.

"Let me survey my assets." The would be Emperor of Nosgoth said instead and left Vorador to his disturbing academic studies. If Vorador wanted to keep possession of that thing Kain was more then inclined to oblige him.

The Serioli, inspired by their brief but blazing invigoration by the spiritual energy within him, had pledged their loyalty to him as their lord and master. They were just as loyal to him as any of the clans, perhaps even more so. Their devotion boarded on the fanatical but as of this moment Kain valued and counted on that loyal and obedience. He was going to half to issue commands and would not have time to explain them or to convince sceptics. He had scarcely explained his intent before Ajatar had been issuing commands to the members of her order which were set to with energetic gusto.

If what he had in mind was to succeed he would have to rely on Ajatar heavily.

"Ajatar, this plan is... is madness!" Just as he was about to reach the gathering of Serioli warriors, the raised voice reached him and he paused. Frowning Kain gazed passed the circle of winged figures to see to the centre, where Ajatar Cadre was rigidly standing. The grandmaster of the Serioli was determinably grinding a whetstone over the edge of one of her short swords, her back turned resolutely to the other winged female behind her.

Of course it was Tiamatu, the winged Hylden who Kain had noticed more and more in Ajatar's company. On this occasion however there was no sign of a casual easy affection or cross species camaraderie. Tiamatu's face was twisted in a complex mixture of emotions. Her eyes were wide, her skin almost pale white and her lips were pulled back in mingled anger and frustration.

"It's going to get you killed!" She shouted at Ajatar's back, her wings flexing out behind her in irritation. Kain could see the grandmaster's face from this angle. Her lips were pressed tightly together and she was squinting. It was a face of one trying very hard to keep themselves under control. She did not seem to be winning that particular battle.

"This is war, people die." Ajatar said and her voice betrayed that struggle to keep calm and rigidly controlled. "And if I must die, it will be for a grand purpose." She emphasized her words by dragging the whetstone so harshly across her blade is produced a shower of sparks.

"You are throwing your life away for nothing!" Tiamatu snapped back. All about them, the Serioli warriors were tending to their own preparations for battle, very pointedly not looking at the unfolding argument but they were clearly listening with interest. "This isn't a strategy, its a sacrifice ploy!"

Ajatar stopped grinding the stone, pausing for a moment; before finally she turned to look back at the winged Hylden.

"I've been prepared for an order like that my entire life." She said in a quiet voice. "Every soldier knows that one day his commander may order them to sacrifice themselves and every soldier has to have faith that they would not be ordered to do such a thing were there any other alternative."

Another silence followed. The two women stared at each other, their wings flexing and unfolding behind them as if they were the only parts of their bodies not to be restrained by any self control. Kain hung back to allow the scene to unfold.

"You would truly throw yourself into such a fate willingly?" Tiamatu asked finally, seemingly unable to come to terms with that.

"That's a question you should ask yourself, Tiamatu." Ajatar returned in a flat voice. "Just what are you willing to die for?"

The Hylden woman stiffened then. Her nostrils flared, her eyes bulged and the remainder of the colour drained from her face. But this was not a reaction of fear but rather blinding anger. She took two quick steps forward and grabbed Ajatar by the front of her red tunic. Ajatar apparently had not anticipated the move and was yanked close so the two of them were suddenly barely an inch apart.

"Accident, violence, disease, old age!" Tiamatu growled into the Serili Grandmaster's face, teeth bared. "There are countless ways to die! Dying is easy! Everyone can die! You don't need a reason for something so simple!" And then she kissed her. It was a fierce kiss born of frustration finding a release. Ajatar stiffened against it in baffled surprise and Kain, watching from beyond raised both eyebrows. He had expected some form of expression of union to be expressed soon enough, but this was certainly beyond his anticipated ideas. The two of them had already done much together to undo the divide between the two war torn races but in one emotional instance they had essentially shattered that line into forgotten pieces.

Tiamatu finally released Ajatar, who just stood there staring in stunned awe.

"Just what are you willing to live for?!" The Hylden asked her and with a flourish her wings snapped out wide. "Live, Ajatar-Cadre." She told her in a voice of intense emotion. "Live or by the Keeper I'll throttle your loosed soul myself!" With those parting words she was in the air, two flaps carrying her up high and away. Ajatar stared after her while all here warriors, who had been caught of guard as much as she, stared at their grandmaster. All of them looked like a gaggle of young people first exposed to adult life rather then beings hundreds of years old.

Kain repressed a bubble of rising laughter and cleared his throat, stepping forward.

"Spirited." He observed. Ajatar actually jumped at the sound of his voice, the feathers on her wings rustling against one another so loudly it sounded like rain against a glass window. She about turned to face him, her face wearing a comical expression that actually had a blush across her cheeks.

"Lord Kain!" She stammered. "I ...I um..."

"We haven't much time." Kain informed her sternly, giving her a look. While normally he would enjoy letting her stew in her own embarrassment there were more pressing concerns. "I will need only your finest warriors for this. The rest must make their escape as best they can."

Ajatar covered her shaken composure well although depsite her best efforts the blush on her cheeks did not diminish even slightly.

"I've already selected them, my Lord." She replied, her voice wavering a little. "Twenty of my best stand ready to enact your will." With one hand she gestured to those closest to her. They were all large winged Vampires, Ansu and his golden axe amongst them. They all have burn scars from time spent at the Serioli forges across their forearms.

Kain looked them over quickly before nodding.

"Twenty will suffice." He agreed. He needed to balance this just right. He needed Serioli power to call upon but he also needed to leave much of it in reserve. Presuming of course there would be a later time to call upon that reserve. Kain raised one hand and pointed with a talon to the hulking, giant forms nearby. "Balam's Turelim are preparing themselves. Have your warriors join theirs for when we begin."

"Yes, Lord Kain." Ajatar replied quickly.

"And Ajatar?" Kain added quickly before she could turn back to issue any orders. She looked at him questioningly. He held her gaze for a moment before he said, in a low but soft voice; "This is not a suicide mission."

"My Lord?" His statement left her puzzled.

"Tiamatu expects you to live and so do I." He told her and the blush covered her face without much resistance. He smiled at her. "Do not disappoint us."

Ajatar-Cadre, grandmaster of the Serioli, pupil of Ukko himself, she who had stepped across thousands of years from the ancient past to the far future; was in fact someone totally out of their depths and merely doing their best with it. To be handed such a life line when their fate seemed as bleak as could possibly be, sent a ray of hope across her face which she tried to hide but her smile and blush lingered.

"I understand, my lord." She said and in her voice was the tell tale signs of a rising, new excitement.

Vorador was waiting for him when Kain was satisfied that the state of all those he intended to put to use were prepared, or at least as prepared as they ever could be for what was about to unfold. The ground by now was shuddering with the oncoming footsteps of that implacable army, the drum beat thud of their march a constant noise humming in the air.

"We're ready." Kain said, coming to the ancient Vampire's side. Vorador was looking over at the distant vista of that pillar of rising blue light, one hand placed upon the top of the orb. That beam of light was even more sinister from a distance as it somehow replicated the visual form of the far more begin Pillars they hoped to raise, but was far more sinister in nature.

"We'll be up against an army a million strong with only a handful of warriors at our side." Vorador said dimly.

"Accurate." Kain agreed, following his gaze. A brief silence between them followed, broken only by the crunch of that rising tempo of oncoming danger.

"I sense you have some ploy beyond the obvious in mind." Vorador added, turning his head to give him a sidelong look. A little knowing smile broke over Kain's lips.

"We need to earn ourselves as much breathing space as possible, Vorador." He explained, folding his arms over his chest. "So to that end, we're going to put on a play. A play so entertaining the Divus will sit down to vapidly watch every act of it and beg us for encores."

Vorador seemed to be greatly amused by the comparison, smiling back at him.

"We have quite the trope of talented actors, to be certain." He remarked, tucking the orb under one arm.

"And what are actors without a stage to perform upon?" Kain asked. Vorador nodded in agreement.

"It would have to be an appropriately large stage of which they could take full advantage."

"Oh indeed." Kain agreed emphatically. "Somewhere with proper atmosphere and large set pieces to enhance the performance."

"Preferably with props on hand?"

"Quite!"

Kain then turned his head to his right to stare across the horizon which stretched from their position and towards the south west. Highlighted occasionally by flashes of lightning from the storm brewing above the Abyss were a series of jagged spires. They were black silent spikes against the sky and the light flashes exposed only briefly various ruined buildings once since abandoned. It stretched off for some distance from the edge of the Abyss towards the banks of the lake of tears. Clearly it had once been a great city, but now was little more then a dilapidated collection of decayed stone.

Vorador followed Kain's gaze, squinting at the ruin.

"Is that...?" He began slowly. Kain nodded.

"Yes, yes it is." The Emperor of Nosgoth confirmed sardonically. The two of them exchanged another sidelong look.

"Raziel will not approve." Vorador predicted sagely, smiling.

"No, not he won't." Kain agreed. "But this is my play and if that's the stage I want, then that is the stage I will have." His almost petulant statement provoked a laugh from Vorador and the ancient Vampire raised a hand to his face.

"Act one, scene one!" He proclaimed with relish. "Audience, take your seats!"


	4. Stand and Sacrifice

-0-

Chapter 3- "The stand and sacrifice."

-0-

Exactly how the Divus knew of their exact position was unclear, but there was no doubt that they did. The army they had amassed, the resurrected Legions of the Nemesis, was skirting around the side cliffs of the Abyss and driving themselves in a forced march towards the distant walls and towers of the desecrated Human Citadel. They were a nearly perfectly seamless, unbroken, tide of black armour. As the army moved, it came in row upon row of perfectly formed disciplined ranks and columns. Not one soldier put a foot out of place and the ground shook so much with their footsteps, that rocks were loosed from the cliff to fall into the depths of the whirlpool below.

Flashes of lightning from the storm circling the Ark and its protective beam of light highlighted their armour as they marched, no one flash casting the same shadow or gleam over the sheer acres of armoured figures. The way they marched too was so methodical, an almost mechanical automated set of movements, as if they were merely imitating the movements of something foreign to them. The movements of each soldier was so perfectly synchronized with each other that it seemed they were all mere copies of one another, one no more unique then the rest.

Standing atop the remains of a large stone pillar which towered up from the ramparts of a wall erected when the Vampiric empire was young, Kain gazed upon these soldiers close up for the first time. Whoever had created this army had paid exceptional attention to detail, for their armour was identical in almost every way to that of the original force.

"Resurrecting an army from a timeline erased?" He asked, calling out to them at the top of his lungs. "I must admit, you Divus certainly have a flare for the appropriate! I can think of nothing more fitting to be my final challenge than the army I failed to defeat in my youth! A second chance to wash clean a stain upon my record, as it were!" He made sure his voice carried, rising above the crash of thunderbolts from the storm, the howl of the wind and the rumble of churning water.

With a stomp which shook the ground the soldiers of this army all came to a sudden halt, row after row of them lining up behind the one in front. Kain could watch the wave of the halt travel back along their column as if their mass were the surface of a body of water. All their heads turned as one to look at him, their faces hidden behind their concealing helmets and visors. Kain grinned at the attention and reached back over his shoulder, taking hold of the Reaver's hilt and brandishing the sword towards them challengingly. Holding the sword aloft, its serpentine edge shone brightly in the light of a lightning bolt overhead.

"Well come then! Let the game begin! If you wish to avenge your gaudy towering monument to your own gaucheness, I await your first thrust!"

His declaration made to his enemy, he about turned and jumped down the far side of the pillar before any of them could loose an arrow or some other projectile in his direction. He skipped and slid his way down its sharp incline, vaulting from stone to stone along a crumbling wall. He moved some distance across a large encircling barrier, diving and dodging through the ruins of a once mighty defence, before he reached a rooftop of dark grey slate.

Over this he vaulted quickly, reaching the top and sliding down the far side and dropping off the edge. He turned head over heels several times before he landed with a firm thud in a small courtyard framed by two large rectangular buildings with crumbling mortar walls. Standing there waiting for him upon a cracked surface with the curving symbol of the long lost Razielim engraved into it, arms crossed behind his back in his usual fashion, was Vorador. The ancient Vampire gave him a very direct look, one eyebrow raised.

"Towering monument to your own gaucheness?" The once lord of the Black forest repeated sceptically and with a shake of his head. "Laying it on a bit thick there, aren't you?" Vorador was prepared for battle. His curving short sword Marrow was at his side and strapped across his back crossing each other were the twin axes, Havoc and Malice; the two axes which when used together were a whirlwind of gory mayhem. He had discarded his usual red robe and wore instead a padded leather jerkin with firmer bracers built into the forearms, his usual boots replaced with a matching leather pair with reinforced metal across the heels and toe. They looked like they had been taken from Vampire hunter stock.

"Know your audience, Vorador." Kain replied, cocking his head to one side to listen for a moment. "A little pandering and a poking of the ego can go a long way."

Sure enough after a few moments of anticipatory silence the crunch and rumble of those footsteps began once more, small stone chips scattered about leaping off the ground and dancing. From the steady increase of sound and vibration, Kain could tell that the army had changed its course and was now heading directly toward them. The Divus had indeed taken the bait. He allowed himself a little smile of satisfaction.

"Oh, well, you would know." Vorador remarked and that smile vanished. The would be Emperor of Nosgoth gave his long standing rival and former mentor a sidelong look.

"This is neither the time nor place." He announced briskly and strode past him through the yawning doorway into the building to their left, sheathing the Reaver blade back into its proper place as he went. Timing was crucial now and they had to be ready for when their enemy made their approach into these ruins.

The building was a large vestibule which still showed evidence of the exquisite designs of old frescos, murals and mosaics on almost every surface. Once this had been the entrance to a grand temple through which many hundreds of Vampires of the Empire had once come, all to worship their god and creator. The temple itself had collapsed long ago by now and was little more than a pile of rubble at the end of an adjoining corridor, its splendours lost beneath the debris.

Standing there staring up at the murals across the ceiling was the emaciated blue form of Raziel. The wraith seemed oblivious to the oncoming threat and the thud of its approaching footsteps, his gaze set upon the image high above. It was quite the splendid image, of a heroically displayed Vampire with jet black hair tied back into a pony tail wielding a red sword in one hand and carrying a pole in the other. From this pole hung two banners, one with the Imperial symbol and the other with the icon of the Razielim.

Raziel just stood there silently staring at the image of his lost beauty, of a handsome face which had gained him admirers across the entire dominion of the Empire. No matter how lionized and romanticized he had been depicted here, it was perhaps one of the few remaining images of that beauty.

"This has to be done, Raziel." Kain told him from the shadows of the doorway. Raziel was silent for a moment, the rising tempo of the enemy march a constant hum in the background. Then he let his shoulders relax in a slump and he turned his head to look at Kain. His featureless, luminous eyes held a wealth of regret and sadness in them.

"I know." He admitted, patting the side of a nearby wall with one hand. "This ruin is little more than a dwelling for shades and ghosts now. Let it be put to some practical use once more." His eyes closed briefly. "Even if for just one last time."

The force Kain had brought together to enact his plan had of course to be drastically limited, as the majority of the alliance was by now making time as best they could in their attempt to flee into the wilderness. As such, those he had decided to take with him to execute this endeavour were those exceptionally skilled individuals he knew he could rely on.

Vorador, despite being dismissive of his authority, was so adept a warrior and so proficient in the more destructive side of Serioli talent that his inclusion was absolutely necessary. Raziel of course, granted such awesome abilities with his unique form was a vital asset. Both of them would be needed in order to ensure that the plan worked and, once it had, that an escape could be affected.

Janos Audron was waiting for them at the far end of a long corridor, arms folded over his chest and wings tucked tightly behind him as he listened to the rumble of the approaching march. The eldest Vampire alive, Janos was perhaps not a skilled warrior but his tactical wisdom far outstripped physical prowess. His recent experiences seemed to have hardened him somewhat, giving him a fierce demeanour when approaching the topic of their struggle. He, more than anyone it seemed, was determined to put everything they had into the fight.

Beside him was Ajatar, who looked far more pensive than Janos. She was listening acutely to the approaching footsteps, her wings behind her rustling loudly in the way they always did when she was anxious about something. The way they were shaking now it was clear she was very uptight. She stood there rigidly, one hand on the hilt of one of her short swords and the other clenching and unclenching a fist over and over.

Towering a good several feet over them was Balam. Large even by Turelim standards, he was perhaps the tallest Vampire to ever exist. Even Dumah at the apex of his might had not been quite so tall. His thin, spreading ears gave him an extra few inches on top of his already impressive height. His bulk muscles and wide shoulders gave him an imposing girth and display of unrivalled physical strength. He was indispensable as an engine of war.

"I take it the bait was taken?" Janos asked rhetorically as the marching sound reaching a crescendo around them.

"With enthusiasm." Kain replied as he stepped forward, before turning to look at Ajatar's pensive far. "Is everyone in position?"

"Yes, Lord Kain." She grandmaster of the Serioli order said with quick nervousness, her wings seemingly not able to hold still even for a moment. "We await your command." Above her, Balam nodded in agreement with his shoulder muscles subtly flexing. Kain could not help but smile at the loyalty displayed. Ajatar and Balam showed their loyalty in different ways. One was eager and filled with enthusiasm. The other was reserved but steadfast in her faithfulness. Both approaches were gratifying.

"Then let's make this look convincing." He told them, directing them with a wave of the hand to begin.

The capital city and centre of the once proud and lofty Razielim clan had suffered siege, fire and the decay of centuries. It had been left standing merely as a monument to what had once been and a reminder of their supposed hubris before the other clans turned on them, believing that Raziel's kin should suffer the fate of their patriarch. The looting of precious land and wealth was perhaps also a potent lure. Gone were the grandest displays of power and fortune, chipped off, battered down or burned.

The walls of the city, however, had withstood the test of time. They were all meters thick and toweringly high, designed to defend the city of the first born clan and to inspire awe and fear into any army which dared to even consider laying siege to them. After the slaughter of the clan centuries ago they had sat disused and abandoned, devoid of purpose. Now that purpose had come again, for another army was descending upon the city and the massive pitted iron gate was pulled shut against them and barred.

That of course would prove no barrier to the oncoming enemy, but the thickness of the walls did mean the southward facing main gate was their only means of ingress. Once through that door the buildings gathered either side of the grand central pavilion acted as a funnel, directing any incoming body of men directly into the centre of the city before the remains of the once great statue of the Razielim patriarch and his castle just beyond.

The great barred gate shuddered as it was besieged, a great battering ram brought against its pitted surface. Sadly this gate had not fa the centuries as well as the walls themselves and each blow swung against it caused its substance to buckle and crack, large jagged portions of it falling away and sent flying. The great bar across it could not withstand the attacks and it began to bend in the middle. Even the large hinges of the gate were being torn bit by bit out of their sockets. Then with one final crashing force the ancient gate was went tumbling to the ground, collapsing into a pile of twisted metal.

The Legion advanced into the city virtually over the falling metal, row after disciplined row of soldiers forming a line so rigidly held it was as if they were a rising tide of blackness engulfing everything in their path. The battering ram they had used to break through was being carried above them, supported by their physical strength alone. It was a massive pillar of steel formed from cylindrical pieces that seemed to have been formed from many dozens of tall tower shields all fitted together; or at least it seemed from a distance.

The soldiers lowered the siege engine as they walked and it disappeared into their midst, being dismantled even as they marched; like a horde of ants over the carcass of a fallen enemy. The way they went about such silent efficiency struck Kain as not just unnatural but mechanical. No living beings moved the way they did, as if the concept of movement at all was a foreign one to them and were merely going through the textbook guide to basic locomotion. Whatever they might turn out to be however, they had still fallen for his ruse.

The invaders marched over the once grand floor of the main pavilion and waiting for them, as planned, were Balam and three of his strongest Turelim warriors. Their orders however were not to engage, much to their profound disapproval, but rather to begin the first act. As the soldiers came forward, two hunting vampires surged forward making a loud a roar as they possibly could. At the same time Balam and the remaining warrior slammed into two large stone pillars behind which they had been hiding.

As the pillars toppled forward, the vampires drew sharply back allowing them to crash to the ground of dust. As they ran they made as much noise as possible, shouting, yelling, pausing every now and then to throw rocks back through the obscuring dust cloud into the teeth of the invaders. Then as the Turelim pulled back out of range, Ajatar and several of her Serioli swept overhead from the rooftops of the deserted buildings either side. They flew a sharp dance back and forth through the cover of the dust, dropping more rocks into the midst of the black armoured soldiers.

-0-

 _ **"It was bombastic. An almost childish act of theatre. The entire point to merely convince the Divus that there were more defending this Razielim ruin than were actually present, luring them deeper and deeper into the city. Fate grant me the time I would need to devise a stratagem to eventually defeat this black army once and for all."**_

-0-

By the time the dust had settled, Ajatar and Balam had already pulled their forces back and out of sight, but the ambush had done its job. The soldiers began forward after them again, this time at a far quicker pace, breaking into a run with their weapons held forward. They poured into the city, through its streets and between its large stone columns seeking the enemy which had harassed them. From the concealing safety of a thin arrow slit window behind the wall of a tower, Kain watched them go with a little smile parting his lips. So far, so good.

The invading army raced across the pavilions and into the central courtyard. There they were met by a hail of crossbow bolts fired from concealment of the ring of battlements which leaned out over the courtyard from all three sides. The Serioli had taken many Vampire hunter crossbows along with a hefty supply of bolts and had learned enough to operate them effectively, Ajatar's warriors keeping up a constant rate of fire which riddled the first few ranks of soldiers with so many bolts they looked like they had sprouted quills.

But the soldiers merely toppled and fell over when they were brought down. They made no sound as usual, not even a cry of pain and not a single one of them was bleeding. When they collapsed, their comrades simply stepped over them, sometimes even stepping upon them as if their corpses weren't even there. Kain frowned, watching this unfold. No, they certainly weren't Human. But they weren't homunculi either, of that he was certain. They were something quite new.

"Kain! They're trying to flank us!" Vorador's sharp yell brought him instantly out of his contemplation and he turned around quickly.

Raziel was running across the length of the smaller pavilion behind the buttress, the wraith blade already flaring from his arm. Vorador was across the open space, pulling a large pair of bared gates shut and locking them into place, moments before a thick rush of black armoured soldiers came slamming into the gate from the other side. Somehow a sizeable portion of the enemy had found a route through the ruins to their position, a position Kain had thought to be secure and hidden.

Kain swore loudly and leapt down from the buttress, drawing the Reaver from across his back in one swift motion. The gate was an ornamental decorative thing, not a barrier intended to keep intruders out. After so many centuries of neglect it was no impediment to the assault being directed against it. Before Kain even reached the other side of the small pavilion it was already being forced off its hinges.

The soldiers poured through entrance as the gate fell away, swords raised and shields out before them. Pikes thrust out from in between gaps in the shield way, stabbing forward when an opening presented itself. There was a steady steam of them coming in, the number of black armoured figures behind them with not seeming limit. Even now their rigid and tightly disciplined formation did not faulty.

Their advance met the combined fury of Kain, Raziel and Vorador directly. Their shield wall held firm, for perhaps about five seconds. Then it gave way in a shower of black metallic shards as the Reaver was forced through their line with a spectral screech. The serpentine blade tore through shield after shield until it met with flesh and passed through with enough shear force to cleave a pair of arms clean off. Through sheer force of main strength Kain smashed through their defence, shattering their shields and providing the far more nibble Raziel an opening.

The blue wraith dived past Kain even as the Vampire came to the end of his swung, ducking under the arching blade of the Reaver. He was in amongst the black armoured men, slashing his spectral blade at their legs. It screamed as it swung back and forth through the air, cleaving its way through limb after limb. Soldier after soldier toppled backwards, falling with their legs slashed to stumps. With an acrobatic twist allowed by his spindly body, he kicked their falling bodies back into their advancing fellows.

As their ranks wavered, their formation breaking up, Vorador made his move. He hadn't drawn his one handed blade for this, but rather reached back to pull out the twin axes Havoc and Malice. The twins, both perfectly balanced weapons and made for use with the other, churned the air as Vorador began to spin around on his axis. He became a veritable whirlwind of sheer force. Pieces of armour with limbs still inside them went flying in all directions, scattered about as if discarded from threshing shark.

Kain kicked a soldier down as it lunged at him, swinging a curved sword at his midsection. The blow knocked the aggressor back and as it staggered, he plunged the Reaver directly into its body burying it to the hilt. The sound it made as it plunged it was not the wet tearing gurgle of flesh parting however, but rather a jagged ripping sound very much akin to the sound made by an axe as it split firewood. There was no blood, no bursting gore, no scream of pain. And perhaps more disturbingly, the Reaver made no surge and cry of ravenous delight as it feasted on a soul. For there was no soul to feast upon.

With a snarl of disgust Kain kicked the body off his sword and turned to bring it down sharply across the length of another coming at him from behind. He was about to turn to decapitate a third when suddenly Janos came hurtling down out of the air to land with force upon the soldier, crushing him to the ground with the full force of his weight. The soldier crumbled under him, collapsing with a crunching sound like rocks grinding together.

Then looming over them was the hulking figure of Balam. The towering Turelim leader raced past them both, his thick arms swinging wide. He caught several of the black armoured soldiers up in his massive hands, lifting them clear off their feet and used them as crude but effective weapons to bludgeon their fellows. Each blow rang out deafening crashes across the courtyard, large chunks of black armour and fragmented limbs going flying over their heads.

"Cut them off!" Kain yelled loudly, jabbing with his sword toward the open gateway where Vorador and Raziel were still barely holding the horde back in the bottleneck. Balam nodded once, tossing his improvised weapons aside. He set his large body, scraping his feet across the ground several times before he burst into a furious run. The sheer force of his stampeding form knocked over a dozen soldiers off to either side, as well as trampling a dozen more simply underfoot.

Vorador and Raziel had one startled look back as all the warning they would get, which was just enough for them both to leap clear and tumble out of the way. A spilt second later Balam crashed with terrible force directly into the gate, smashing through the stone pillar on one side and then the other. Fragments of masonry burst into the air in a cloud of bellowing dust as, with its support gone, the roof of the gate came crashing down right on top of the charging soldiers. The debris cascaded down and piled up high, blocking the passageway completely.

The remaining soldiers on this side of the now blocked passage came together to put up a fight, trying to get back into some sort of formation. But Kain set to them with a furious well, hacking through them, almost chopping. The Reaver blade spun, dancing through the air, sending heads, arms and legs scattering across the floor. His allies set to work around them, bash, slashing and hacking their way through their assailants until they all meet up in the middle and Vorador and Kain finished off the same soldier together with their weapons connecting inside the body before it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"By the pit!" Janos gasped suddenly with a sharply drawn intake of breath, gazing down with wide eyes at the shattered pieces of bodily debris lying at his feet. His exclamation drew everyone's attention and they followed his gaze. limbs lay all about them; arms and legs and decapitated heads. But there was no blood at all, not so much as a drop. The skin stretched over those limbs seemed human enough but beneath, the flesh was a pale dark grey.

The heads scattered about were much the same, normal on the outside and grey on the inside. Additionally, now that Kain had the chance to look at them outside of the chaos of battle; he could see that every single face on these heads was exactly the same. The soldiers were identical, even down to what could only be a cosmetic scar running down the left cheek and across the jawline.

Raziel slowly bent down and picked up an arm, holding it out for them all to see. The flesh was ringed out from the centre like the layers of a tree stump, totally boneless and devoid of any internal structure.

"I had thought as much." Kain mused, lowering the Reaver with a frown creasing his face.

"What manner of twisted abominations are these?" Vorador asked as Raziel handed him the limb. The ancient Vampire probed the arm stump with a talon experimentally. "Their flesh is like wood! Are they trees in human form?"

"Or some new species of homunculus?" Raziel guessed dimly. Kain deepened his frown at the questions this all raised, but a sudden booming of something large striking an obstructing barrier recalled him to the more important task at hand. He half turned, looking back over his shoulder towards the battlement where he had been observing the battle unfold. The boom came again, and again. The invaders must have reached the inner gate to the Razielim palace itself, a gate barred and protected by Ajatar and her strongest warriors.

"Presently we do not have the leisure to answer that curiosity!" He declared, turning sharply to grasp Janos by one shoulder. "Is Lorenzo prepared?" Janos blinked and looked up quickly, visibly steadying himself.

"He should be by now." He said in a somewhat strained voice.

"Then tell Ajatar to hold her ground until the last possible moment. Once Lorenzo starts, we will have to act quickly." Kain told him, giving him a little shove to get him moving. Before Janos could even take off again, the would be Emperor of Nosgoth was turning to issue more commands.

"Balam, you know your orders." He shouted up at the towering vampire.

"As you command!" Balam responded and quickly moved off, kicking the bodily debris causally out of his way.

Kain gestured for Raziel and Vorador to follow him as he moved back up the battlement, hurrying to catch up on what the surprise attack from the rear had forced him to miss. By now the large pavilion below was filled with their enemy, piling in so thick there was scarcely a patch of uncovered ground. More of them were pouring down to join the attack on the inner wall. Already the battering ram with which they had forced the outer gate open was being reassembled, indeed using shields and weapons as raw material.

From the buttress overhanging the inner wall, Serioli warriors were running back and forth unleashing a torrent of elemental fury upon the besieging army. Pillars of fire rained down, shadowed by shards of ice which formed from the moisture of the air. Many black armoured soldiers fell under the barrage, their armour melting or embedded with impaling ice. But their fellows paid them no need, carrying on as if nothing had occurred.

Kain watched, turning his head to the left to watch as, with a loud boom, his orders to the Turelim were carried out. Balam and his warriors were moving swiftly across the rooftop of a nearby building. As soon as they were in position, all four of them positioned themselves in a tense squat before leaping forward. It was a jump that had all the force of their reinforced strength put into it and it carried them up and over the heads of the besieging legions.

With a tremendous crash they all slammed into the side of a tall tower. They tore through its brick and stone easily, bashing out its foundational support. The tower shuddered, wavered back and forth and then began to topple forward. It lost its shape as it fell so when it finally came down it slammed into the ground was a bellowing cloud of brick and dust. The booming crash was tremendous, the ground shaking so much Kain had to put a hand out to steady himself.

The debris cascaded everywhere, piling up so high that it completely blocked the way out of the central pavilion. Hundreds if not thousands of the black armoured legionnaires were now trapped between the defended inner wall and the mountains of debris, separating them from reinforcements and leaving them incapable of retreating.

The next part of the plan came right on schedule. It made itself known first by a high pitched whine that increased in volume with every passing second. It reached such high levels that it actually became painful to the ear and all three of those watching from the parapet winced almost in unison, Raziel going so far as to bring his hands up to cover his ears.

A moment later the strike came. The Turelim's attack jump had been devastating enough but what occurred then dwarfed it. Three black objects moving so quickly it was impossible to register anything other than the general shape of a cone came hurtling overhead, virtually falling out of the sky. They crashed down into the pavilion right into the midst of the black legionnaires, punching through ranks like cheap parchment and embedded themselves deep into the earth.

A fraction of a moment afterward a tremendous fireball burst forth, blasting up through the ground and turning almost the entire pavilion into a raging inferno. Black armoured figures were either sent flying in pieces or incinerated on the spot, black dust and bodily debris raining down all around with much of it still on fire. Kain, who had not been prepared for the accompanying shockwave, had had to keep hold of the stone buttress to prevent himself being blown over by the impact.

"Long range bombardment." Vorador murmured with a nod of grim approval at the devastation laid out before them, his large ears flapping about his head as the wind the fires were producing blew up across them. "Renders their superior numbers almost meaningless."

Kain had to raise his hand to shield his face from the glare and heat of the flames, his brow furrowing. Through the gaps in his talons he could see the flames consuming vast piles of bodies quickly, as if spread over the finest prepared kindling. The light from that inferno was casting long shadows in all directions.

"I have seen mortars before, but never on so grand a scale." He admitted, quite surprised. He had of course planned for some form of long range attack, but something of this calibre had never crossed his mind.

"Lorenzo called it 'artillery'." Vorador announced in a matter of fact tone of voice, still seemingly unfazed by being so close to the point of impact. "Using compressed gas from the Endurance's balloon it propels shells up to about a foot in length."

"Only a foot?" Raziel asked, sceptically. The blue wraith had sensibly retreated back behind a stone pillar to escape the worst of the onslaught. The impact had fractured that pillar down one side, small stones falling free. "A trebuchet can throw far larger rocks."

"Oh that might not sound impressive, but when they're fired at such speed their impact causes much more devastation than anything a mere catapult or trebuchet could accomplish." Vorador assured him, smiling in an altogether vicious way and nodding down to the now demolished pavilion and the flaming hole which now took its place. "As you can see."

Kain half turned to look back over what he thought the trajectory of the projectiles had been. It had all happened so fast that it was hard tell. The plan had been for Lorenzo to set up his bombardment from the cliffs overlooking the Abyss just to the north. Had they truly been able to cause such destruction from that far away, with only a handful of three foot shells?

"Interesting. I shall have to speak to him about it someday." He mused, the potential of such weapons piquing an interest in his mind.

"He's not going to make them for you." Vorador told him flatly.

"We shall see, Vorador. I can be quite..."

"Look out!" Raziel lunged forward and tackled the two arguing elder Vampires, knocking them both down and onto the ground. His intervention came only just in time, for the spot where they had been standing suddenly caved in as a heavy object the length and width of a tree trunk came crashing down out of the sky to bash it to pieces. Everything happened so fast. Kain was face down on the battlement stones as a tremendous shadow swept over them.

Quickly he scrambled up, Reaver in hand, looking about with frantic motions before he spotted their assailant. The beast was already slipping back up into the dark clouds above, but that retreating tail and the shadow of those vast beating wings gave him away instantly.

"Thanatos!" Vorador snarled, pulling himself back up. "Quickly, we need to find cover!" Before he had even finished speaking however, his words were drowned out by a flash and terrible booming. A bolt of lightning shot out of the storm swirling about the Abyss and directly onto their flying enemy. The Dragon's body glowed so brightly in the clouds they could see his terrible outline from the ground. Then with a tremendous sound which hurt all their ears, Thanatos redirected that lightning forward until it collided with the cliffs to the north.

Kain did not even need to see the distant explosion to know that Lorenzo's artillery siege engine had been instantly destroyed.

Thanatos circled back, his massive wings beating and fanning the flames down below in a roaring frenzy. His huge body descended out of the clouds and landed with a thud on top of one of the ruined buildings, the digits of his large front paws curling around the old neglected masonry. His head was raised up over the flames, arching forward like a snake with his mouth half open exposing his row upon row of curving sharp teeth. Atop his head, the strange protective helmet he had been given to protect his eyes had been adapted into a visor which gave him a truly demonic visage, with curving sheets of metal running down either side of his head like the horns of a goat.

"And here I thought the mighty Thanatos, last of the once great Uni, would have more pride than to be a mere beast of war for the Divus!" Vorador cried out defiantly, drawing his sword and holding it forward.

Thanatos swung his head around to look toward them. His wings fanned rhythmically either side of his colossal body, the flames beneath sparking and roaring with new life each time. His long tail, ending in a feathered tuft, lashed behind him with so much force that when it collided with another building it knocked a wall out.

-" _If I am to be made a beast of war, I will be such a beast that I will bathe this world in destruction the likes of which it has never seen_!"- The words radiated from the Dragon's mind, a telepathic communication which required no actual spoken language. Very much their method of communication was similar to the Vampiric skill of the Whisper, only far more potent. Far less a whisper and more of a shout.

That massive head lowered, lips drawn back to expose all of those teeth, each one the length of a short sword or dagger. Behind those teeth flickers of fresh fire, ready to be unleashed, sparked and flamed.

-" _And you... **YOU** will BURN!"- _Those words, projected into the mind, were filled with scores of venom, hatred and towering anger.

"You know Vorador, I have the distinct impression the Dragon doesn't like you." Raziel deadpanned.


	5. Holding the Line

(pardon the small delay there, I had a lot to do over the last two months)  
-0-  
-" _Bathe in the fires of an inferno!_ "-

The fire that burst forth from Thanatos' maw was more intense then ever before, the flames a blinding ceaseless white. All three of them dived as one for the relatively safety of the far side of the wall mere moments before the flames blasted its far side. The heat was still intense, the air rippling and distorting about them. The stones beneath their feet quickly began to heat up, cracking in many places under the pressure as the temperature of their material fluctuated so rapidly. The torrent of flame did not stop, a seemingly endless swirling vortex of white hot fire which was gradually causing the stones atop the battlement to begin to melt.

"We have no means of countering him, Kain!" Vorador shouted, having to raise his voice high over the roar of that inferno. He was holding one arm above himself to shield his face from the heat which bellowed about them, tongues of flame shooting through small holes in the wall.

Kain squinted up above, watching the flames shoot overhead to leave black marks across a tower across the courtyard.

"We do not need to counter him. Not just yet at least. Just keep his attention on us for as long as we can." He replied, trying to sound confident. While technically that was true, the Dragon's might on the side of their enemy was a powerful threat and one that currently he saw no mean of neutralising.

"I thought this wasn't intended as a suicide mission." Vorador declared flatly, keeping back from the wall as the stones began to glow a bright red from being blasted.

"Only if you want it to be, Vorador." Kain said with a wry smile. "Had any macabre thoughts of self destruction, lately?"

Vorador looked like he was about to reply with something distinctly unflattering when the torrent of flame came to an abrupt end. A moment later a huge cloven forepaw came crashing down on top of the battlement above, foot long claws carving through the heated stones and sending fragments scattering in all directions. A huge shadow loomed overhead and all three of them dived in different directions instinctively. That instinct saved them as barely an instant later the jaws of the Dragon came down where they had been standing, snapping shut with bone shattering force.

Kain spun around, one hand snatching the Reaver from its position on his back in one fluid motion. Instantly he turned and lunged forward, driving the serpentine sword toward the Dragon's throat. But Thanatos tilted his head to one side in a fast motion that ought to have been too quick for a creature of his size to perform and slammed the front of his snout directly into the Vampire, knocking him backwards. The impact was shockingly powerful and Kain felt the air forced out of his lungs by the simple action. He was sent stumbling backwards and into a half broken old stone pillar.

The Dragon turned his head to glare at him and with a narrowing of the eyes behind his colossal visor unleashed another of his elemental powers, freezing the moisture in the air before his face into long shards of ice. One by one these shards shot forward with the force of cannon shot tired from a mortar, all aimed directly at Kain's chest. Kain reacted instantly, bringing the Reaver up and slicing the first shard in half down its length before dodging to one side to avoid the second. The third he passed through by allowing himself to dip briefly into his mist form before the fourth he slashed across the middle and broke in two with his sword.

Vorador was coming in from the far side, the emaciated Raziel at his side, charging Thanatos' unprotected flank. Thanatos however did not even turn to look at them as his right front limb stretched out and struck Vorador with enough force to send him flying backwards across the courtyard. The ancient Vampire tumbled several times before disappearing into an yawning doorway with a crash. Raziel was more nimble, leaping over the tree trunk sized limb and racing on.

He made directly for the Dragon's throat, his wraith blade erupting from his right hand as he drew in. He was within striking distance and was already putting the force of his run into the lunge. At the last second however the sail like bulk of an immense wing came sweeping around almost out of nowhere, catching the blue wraith in its embrace and scooping him up off his feet. Then with one forceful thrust that wing tossed Raziel's spindly body directly up into the air and the last thing Kain saw of him was his tumbling form, wide eyed with surprise, falling behind a distant wall.

"They tell me you're the last of your kind, Dragon." Kain remarked with a grim smile as the beast loomed over him, its colossal bulk filling the courtyard. "The last living Dragon, at any rate." He amended wryly.

Thanatos' nostrils flared in a snort, hot glowing embers rising from them and spiralling through the air like fireflies.

-" _As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion!_ "- His voice declared hotly, echoing loudly in the vaults of Kain's mind. Those words made Kain pause in startled surprise, gazing up at the reptilian face which hung in the air before him. It could be no mere coincidence the Dragon had chosen that particular phrase.

"Then you are like us." The Emperor of Nosgoth remarked. "All you need is for one of you to survive for your race to recover."

-" _You are mutated, degenerative animals onto whom our greatness rubbed off!_ "- Thanatos' thought spat back in reply, offense and disgust clear in his tone. -" _If we had not taken you in as pets and food stock, you would still be living in trees feeding on berries like your furry ancestors! We are not like you!_ "-

"No?" Kain kept smiling. "My kind were driven to the brink of extinction once, leaving myself as the only survivor. Through me my race survived. You are in the same predicament as I myself was, Dragon."

Thanatos' tail suddenly came arching around and slammed with force into the side of the stone pillar. Kain leapt out of the way, ducking under the tail as it arched over him trailing brick and masonry dust.

-" _Do not call me that!_ "- The thought snarled thunderously in his brain. -" _I am Uni! I am one of the first race, the true owners of Nosgoth! I will not be labelled by your insulting names!_ "- The immense wings snapped out in dramatic emphasis and as they expanded they forced the air before them forward like a sudden immense gale, the full biting force directed right into Kain's crouched body. It pushed him backward, his talons digging into the stone to try and keep himself in one place.

Thanatos' body reared up high, his head rising up on the end of his long neck. His jaws were opening and from between his teeth were not flames this time, but arching spikes of lightning which leapt from tooth to tooth. Slowly those rising sparks were gathering over the tongue in a bright ball which pulsed pile a throbbing heart, tensing and ready to discharge. Having seen the power the dragon had unleashed upon Lorenzo's artillery batteries, Kain had no intension of taking the brunt of such force.

An instant before the strike came his body dispersed in a cloud of bats, each one winging out in different directions to escape. The lightning bolt tore through the air narrowing missed them and leaving each one with lingering static electricity causing their furry bodies to puff out. Several of them, thrown around by the shockwave slammed into each other and tumbled about chaotically. It took some strength of will to control them, to direct them back along the line of that attack.

Coalescing back into himself, Kain propelled himself up and over Thanatos' head. Catching onto the side of the helmet, he swung around until he was positioned directly over the Dragon's snout. Thanatos let out a sharp cry and backed up, tossing his head back and forth trying to throw Kain off. But the Vampire's grip was too strong and he remained in place, raising the Reaver with his free hand and slashing across the exposed flesh just below the rim of the large visor.

The Reaver sank into Dragon flesh and a spray of blood erupted, splattering Kain across his front from head to toe. Thanatos let out a deep cry of mingled pain and indignation, raising his forelegs and wings to try and scrape the irritant away from his face. But Kain held on, ducking beneath every digit and claw which tried to pry him loose. The Reaver blade swept down again and again, striking at the flesh and opening the wound open wider. Each swing brought forth yet more cries of pain from the enraged Dragon.

Finally Kain raised the sword high, ready to drive it point down into the wound. At such an angle it would easily be able to puncture the beast's skull. Before he could strike however, Thanatos whirled his entire body around and smashed his head directly through a thick stone wall. Like a battering ram it slammed straight through, sending blocks of stone flying out in all directions with a bellowing cloud of dust. The impact crushed Kain between several tones of angry Dragon and thick slabs of stone. His vision blurred and he had only a vaguest sensation of movement as his body was thrown wildly through the air and he landed with a painful thump amongst jagged rocks.

-" _Your kind have grown strong in our absence._ "- Thanatos' voice snarled into his numbed mind as Kain tried to push himself back up, a thick layer of masonry dust settling over him. -" _That I will readily admit._ "-

Kain grunted with some pain and brushed the dust away from his face. He could see the Dragon approaching through the fog like obscuring cloud of dust, padding toward him like a colossal hunting wolf. What made the situation that much worse was that laying on the ground between two rocks almost exactly half way between himself and the beast was the Reaver Blade, torn from his hand during the impact.

-" _But you can not kill me. Nothing can kill me!_ "- Thanatos had stopped to rear up, his wings extending high above himself. -" _I am Thanatos! My power throughout the centuries has remained undiminished. My name is death. I AM Death!_ "-

Kain found that despite the ache in his side and the grim seriousness of his situation, he was grinning.

"Interesting claim. One might call it arrogant. And I realise the irony of my recognising that."

-" _Then allow me to prove my point!_ "-

Mouth agape with rows of teeth glistening even through the obscuring dust cloud, the Dragon charged. Its shadow exploding into an onrushing avalanche of claw, tooth and wing. But Kain did not try to dodge or evade the lunge at all. Instead, setting himself with grim determination he raced forward to meet the attack head on. The distance between them vanished in an instant and the Vampire faced opening jaws capable of breaking him in two with one snap.

At the last second however Kain dispersed his body into mist, throwing his essence forward with all the force he had. His form now insubstantial he passed harmlessly through the Dragon's teeth and out the far side of its chin before he came together again. He did not stop running, racing beneath Thanatos' belly before he leapt forward and his hand wrapped firmly about the Reaver's hilt. Turning quickly he reared back and stabbed his reclaimed sword as hard as he could directly up into Thanatos' stomach.

The blade went in deep, piercing the skin right up to the jagged crossbeam. Fresh blood spurted thickly from the impaling wound and Thanatos let out a shriek of agony, his body arching upward and wings beating the air furiously. Before Kain could drive the sword in again however, the Dragon's long tail lashed around and he was forced to retreat in order to avoid being struck by it; darting to one side and then summersaulting backwards over the thrashing limb.

Thanatos backed up several steps, one forelimb curled into himself and over the wound in his underside trying to stem the flow of blood. Kain made forward to recommence an attack but before he could take another step, the Dragon reared his head back and then vomited forward a fresh torrent of boiling white hot flames directly at him. There wasn't time to react with kind of coherent plan as the fire rocketed forward him, threatening to engulf him and turn him to ash.

Kain did the only thing that at this moment his mind and body permitted him to do. He leapt high up into the air, his vampiric ability to reinforce his jumping strength. Fuelled by survival instinct and if he was honest, panic, Kain shot up high into the air like a bolt fired from a crossbow. He cleared the flames shot forward him by several feet, but as soon he did so he found himself facing a new peril.

Thanatos was already moving, breaking off from his attack and propelling himself up towards the Vampire, his mouth was opening wide as he prepared to snatch him directly out of the air as if tending to swallow him whole. In that seemingly frozen moment of time Kain realised he had fallen for the Dragon's ploy and that he had no time to evade those dagger sized jaws. As soon as this moment passed they would close in and skewer him.

Perhaps that is what would have happened, had not without warning a massive bear come charging out of the doorway through which Vorador had vanished and slammed into Thanatos' side with all its fury. The Dragon, taken by surprise, was thrown off course and Kain ended up sliding down its back like a slide. He tumbled head over heals for an undignified few seconds before he leapt free and skidding to a stop on the courtyard floor.

Thanatos had collapsed onto his side, the bear pinning him down and forcing the Dragon up against the far wall. Then with a sudden blurring of its thickly muscled form, the Bear vanished and Vorador was there in its place.

"Run!" He shouted, leaping from Thanatos' sprawled and scrabbling form and racing back towards the cover of the buildings. Kain forward instantly, running with sword in hand through the doorway just as Thanatos got back up to his feet. With an infuriated roar, the Dragon belched forth another torrent of flames after them. It poured down the stone corridor, chasing like a piston through a cylinder as they ran together to escape its reach.

"Now where did you learn how to do that?" Kain asked in a deceptively casual voice, the flames still racing after them.

Vorador said; "Zwergstadar."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have, it was destroyed before you were born."

The two of them dived quickly into a side passage before the flames could overtake them and the two Vampires pressed their backs to the wall, breathing hard from their exertions as the flames shot past leaving scorched black and smoking stones in their wake. Everything went silent after that, the dim chaotic sounds of battle a distant rumble. The two of them turned their heads to look at one another. Dimly Kain noted that Vorador was still taller then himself, despite the inches he had put on with his own Vampiric evolution.

"We won't be able to withdraw with him stalking us." He said with grim concern, abandoning his appearance of nonchalance. Vorador nodded in agreement, his head cocked to one side and one ear twitching as he listened.

"Then let us use his hunt to our advantage." The ancient Vampire remarked. Kain turned to give him a look but before he could say anything there was a loud crash from almost directly overhead. The roof of the corridor above them shock with a fierce impact and several stones ground against each other discarding dust. This was followed by a second crash further along the corridor and then a third down the other side, a deep and ear grating scraping sound coming from above. Kain knew instantly what was going on. Thanatos had climbed on top of the building and was trying to pry the roof open to get at them.

"Quickly, this way!" Vorador said in a hiss and moved off again down the corridor. Kain didn't argue and followed instantly. The crashing, scratching sounds continued and followed them as they ran. Kain did not know by what sense the Dragon was tracking them, but whatever it was it was allowing Thanatos to remain on top of them every step of the way.

Vorador continued on and gradually Kain realised where he was being led. Directly at the heart of the Razielim territory was the colossal stone castle where Raziel had once held court. They were entering the main hallway down that lead to the central chamber, a wide open space beneath a domed ceiling if he recalled correctly. The war to extermination waged upon the Razielim by the Dumahim and Zephonim clans, plus the centuries of neglect would not have been kind to such a structure.

Vorador quickly moved to the doorway and stepped past the rusted ugly gates which one had been a polished steel engraved with images of the Razielim and their way of life.

"In here!" He shouted back and Kain followed him inside. He saw instantly that his expectations had not been far from the mark. The Razielim great hall had most definitely seen better days. Its floor was marked with cracks and blemishes. Its colossal domed ceiling had several large gaping holes in it. Many pillars had collapsed and lay in pieces where they had fallen. The murals and frescos that had one encircled the walls were all either damaged and ruined beyond recognition or faded with the passage of time to the point where it was hard to tell there had ever been a picture there at all. The only thing to survive intact was the ornate stone throne where Raziel had been exulted patriarch of his clan. The only other throne in Nosgoth higher than this one had been his own, beneath the stump of the Pillar of Balance.

-" _There is no escape from me!_ "- Thanatos' mental voice interrupted Kain's train of thought. The Dragon's words were filled with vengeful malice for his pain. A shadow passed over them and glancing up sharply Kain could see the beast's head peering down at them through a wide hole in the ceiling. -" _I will follow you for the ends of the earth if I must!_ "-

It was then that Kain noticed the true condition of that roof. It was cracked across most of its remaining structure and seemed only to be holding itself together by the sheer forced applied by opposite pieces leaning against one another. It was a structure ready to collapse at any moment. Even leaning upon it, the Dragon's weight was causing pieces to shudder and sway. Thanatos however seemed not to have noticed and was sliding in through the hole like a snake into a rodents burrow, his gaze fixed upon them with flickers of flame pouring out either side of his mouth and dripping onto the floor like molten metal.

"Good." Vorador said with an oily smile crossing his face. Thanatos, his body already inside except for the end of his tail, paused in hesitation at the expressed sentiment. "Now, Raziel!" The Ancient Vampire declared with his voice echoing.

And then suddenly the blue wraith was there, diving free of the concealment of a section of fallen pillars where he obviously had been waiting for his cue. Raising his left hand Raziel unleashed bolt after bolt of his own telekinetic power directly into the ceiling. Seeing their intentions Kain quickly unleashed his own compressed bolts of force, slamming them directly into the cracks around that compromised dome.

It did not take much to disrupt the precarious balance of that ceiling. The segments ground together with a grating sound which caused the air to vibrate, more and more cracks spreading and joining with others with loud tearing noises. Dust began to pour down from the ceiling like rivers and slowly the entire structure began to lean ominously to one side. The entire building shook with a vibration which was building to a final cataclysmic crescendo.

Realising his peril, Thanatos reacted in panic and scrambled for the open hole through which he had come. But in doing so, thrusting his weight upon it, he only hastened the disintegration. With a great terrible eruption of noise, dust and flying debris the dome finally collapsed in on itself. Masses of stone tumbled down in a veritable avalanche, catching the dragon in its path and smothering him before he could even let out a trumpeting call.

The collapse followed the three of them as they raced together down the corridor. The dust cloud caught up with them and engulfed them instantly but they all just kept running, rattling stones clattering around behind them until they burst out of a doorway and escaped into the protection of a small courtyard. Behind them the looming ruin of the great hall was still collapsing, pieces falling on top of one another releasing bellowing clouds of dust so thick it was like smoke in the air. The building was falling, collapsing into its own footprint, the weight of all that rubble pressing down and burying the Dragon their trap had caught all the deeper. The ground was still shaking underfoot and the noise filled the air, drowning out the ground of chaotic battle nearby.

"He will not take long to dig himself free." Kain said once the noise had finally faded enough where he could be heard, although he gave Vorador a grudging look of respect for the plan he had just enacted.

"Indeed. I dropped more on him myself and he emerged within minutes." Vorador agreed with a grim nod.

"Then let us complete our work here and be on our way." Raziel said. The blue wraith looked non the worse for wear from being flung across the ruins but fatigue was clear in the slumped way he held his shoulders. Kain didn't blame him. He was going to need to replenish his energies before too long himself.

The Legions of the Divus' army were as relentless as ever and their siege upon the inner walls of the Razielim city had not ceased or slackened. Their numbers were endless. Each one felled collapsed in silence only to be replaced by a dozen more. Soon their bodies were piled high against the walls and their fellows were using them to form a ramp up which they could climb. So far the Serioli warriors atop the battlements were keeping them at bay, incinerating, eviscerating and impaling any of the monstrosities which came within their sight. They were aided in their fight by Balam and his Turelim, who took hold of any who made it to the edge of the battlement and tore them to pieces.

"Ajatar, what is the situation?" Kain demanded as they arrived back behind the wall, a chaotic din of lashing metal and yells coming from above. Ajatar was slumped against a half collapsed pillar. Her red toga was torn in several places and she had cuts across her left arm and one down the same side on her side, blood dripping from her chin. Her hair had fallen out of its usual ponytail and was a mess about her shoulders. She was out of breath and one of her wings drooped lower then the other although with no immediately obvious injury.

Janos Audron was beside her and he did not look to be in much better condition. His tunic was stained with blood and worse, his red hood pulled up to cover his head with the lower half of his face sporting an ugly looking bruise.

"We will not be able to hold them much longer, Lord Kain." Ajatar replied in a strained voice, wiping her brow with the back of one hand which still held one of her swords. "My soldiers are scattered across the walls fending these things off as it is and their numbers seem unending! Its only a matter of time now."

Kain quickly glanced up to the top of the wall. The Serioli warriors were frantically unleashed their elemental arts at the besiegers with barely a moment to pause for breathe. They were excellent soldiers and powerful warriors but they were close to the breaking point now.

"Have we bought the others enough time?" Janos asked without looking up, one hand holding himself steady against the back of the wall.

"Barely, but I would say so." Vorador answered and Kain nodded in agreement.

"We pull out." The would be Emperor of Nosgoth said. "Ajatar, call in your soldiers and make for the..."

Suddenly all sound of battle and clashing metal ceases from above and beyond the wall came to a halt. The absence of that background chaotic din was just as much a surprise as if an explosion would have gone off a few feet from them. Everyone shivered in reaction and looked up with expressions of surprise and alarm on their faces. After another moment there shuffling noise, a clatter of metal as if a horde of heavily armoured men had begun walking in unison with their steps perfectly synchronized. They all exchanged confused glances.

"Grandmaster, the soldiers...they've just stopped! They're falling back!" One of the Serioli called down from the top of the wall.

Kain ascended the wall in an instant, Raziel and Vorador only a moment behind him and Ajatar and Janos a moment behind them. Across the battlements atop the wall, the Serioli warriors were all poised with their arms drawn back ready to recommence their elemental arts but all staring down at the courtyard below with confused expressions.

The black armoured legionnaires were all reforming themselves into neatly ordered lines and then withdrawing. Expressionlessly and silently they were marching backwards, stepping over the shattered wood like pieces of their fallen as if they were merely walking over elevations on a road. They backed off slowly, one step at a time until they were lined up at the far end of the courtyard. There they finally stopped and stood there silent and still like an army of statues.

"What deranged game is this?" Vorador asked with a growl in his tone, one hand on the edge of the parapet and the other on the hilt of his sword.

Suddenly the ranks of the legionnaires parted directly down the middle, each half stepping to the side to make a passage through their numbers. Down that opened avenue a figure was approaching at a casual walking pace. Kain squinted, trying to make it out, but the shadow of the overhanging archway entrance to the courtyard. As they entered and the light fell over their form, Kain frowned as he recognised the typical toga and armoured vestments common to the Divus.

This one was Human but taller then their typical height as he seemed to tower a good head and shoulders over the legionnaires about him. His height could not have been less then seven feet. He was lean to with limbs that seemed long even for his enlarged frame. He was by no means without muscle though and across his pectorals and abdomens were a crisscross of angry looking old scars. His hair was jet black long enough to tie back into a short ponytail behind him by a wrapping of blue clothe. His face however was hidden from view by a strange looking orange mask which looked to be made out of white porcelain. The mask was almost featureless save for the eye slits, expect for the looping eternity symbol which had come to represent the Divus and their god painted onto the forehead.

In his left hand he was carrying something, a weapon of some description. Kain leaned forward slightly to see what it was. When he saw his eyes widened slightly. He recognised that weapon.

"Apostates, hear me!" The Divus proclaimed in a loud, ringing oratorical voice; coming to a stop just before the front line of legionnaires. "I am Puriel-Divus, grand executioner and proud holy soldier!" He raised his arm and held the weapon aloft, revealing it to them all. A large curving golden axe. Seeing it, Ajatar drew in her breathe sharply and snapped her wings out in reflex. She of course would recognise that weapon all too well. "There is no defence, no victory; against the armies of heaven and the word of God! Your rebellion is and always had been, destined to end in ruin and defeat!"

A figure was being dragged down the avenue of parted legionnaires after him, hung limp and near lifeless in the arms of two of the strange wood like soldiers. This one was an ancient Vampire, it was ready to tell by the mere fact they had feathered wings. Whoever they were was leaving a thick trail of blood as he was dragged along, hanging limply between the two legionnaires.

"Ansu?!" Ajatar gasped in surprise and indeed it was. The Serioli warrior had been beaten within an inch of his life. His body was covered in bruises, deep gashes down to the bone across his arms and legs. They had even cruelly gouged out one side of his chest so his ribs were exposed. His face was badly bloodied that he looked like a hideous caricature of himself, lip spilt open and slack. To make it worse, the crowning indignity, was that both of his wings had been shattered into limb useless appendages coated in blood. Exactly how and when the enemy had taken him prisoner during the battle Kain did not know.

Ansu was dragged forward and then thrust onto his face before Puriel's feet. He was barely conscious, resting on his elbows with blood dripping from his mouth. Puriel stood over him and hefted the golden axe he had taken from the warrior, slowly beginning to raise it.

"Behold, the only possible end to rebellion and resistance!" He declared before he raised the gleaming axe high up above his head.

"NO!" Ajatar cried and made to lunge forward. Kain reached out quickly to restrain her but missed. The Serioli Grandmaster leapt from the parapet with her wings snapped open and both swords drawn.

She did not move fast enough.

"ANSU!"

-0-

 **"Ansu, soldier of the Serioli order and loyal follower of Ajatar-Cadre was no more. And with his fall, the losses had begun."**

-0-

The head hit the ground first and rolled a short distance, slick with blood. The body followed a moment later and lay there, broken and twitching. Ajatar screamed out a cry of outrage as she soured across the courtyard towards Puriel-Divus, all her reason lost in a vengeful fury.

"I will kill you, you bastard!" She screamed, lunging forward at Puriel with her swords drawn break ready to screw him. Puriel stood there, bloody axe in hand, watching her approach with seemingly no alarm.

"Ajatar! No!" Kain cried out but his words fell on death ears. Cursing he vaulted over the top of the battlement and kicked off from it, putting all the strength he could muster into that propulsion. Launching himself forward he shot through the air and caught up with Ajatar. In her fury she had not seen the front row of legionnaires behind Puriel kneeling down while the row behind raised up a line of crossbows and all of them aimed directly at her charging form.

Reaching he, Kain grabbed the grandmaster by the shoulder and tossed her back down onto the ground. She landed with a thump behind him and a brief moment later the bolts flew, filling the air with gleaming metal projectiles.

Each one shot forward with a snake like hiss, passing safely through Kain's body as he hung suspended in mist form before clattering off the stone walls behind. Ajatar looked up as her Emperor stood before her, between her and those who had murdered her right hand.

"And so the dark corruptor himself steps forward to receive his final judgement." Puriel remarked in a rich sonorous tone of satisfaction, hefting the axe and tapping its dripping blade into the palm of one hand. "Your well deserved fate has been overdue indeed."

Kain said; "And you think it comes from the likes of you?" His face twisted into a disgusted sneer of utmost contempt as the Vampire reached back and drew the Reaver blade with both hands. The sword let out a hungry screech as he held it level with his shoulders, its serpentine edge gleaming brightly in the light cast by the still burning fires lit by Thanatos' inferno breathe. Kain eyes narrowed tightly, his lips pulled back to expose both sets of his fangs. "Do not flatter yourself!"


	6. The gift of my Blood

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Puriel did not waste time. He took one step, then two, and in the span of an eyeblink he had launched himself across the distance between them, the pilfered golden axe sweeping around in an arc aimed directly at Kain's head. It came at him so fast that the air seemed to screech in protest, as though the blade were being moved fast enough to actually cause it physical pain. Had Kain been Human his reflexes simply would not have been fast enough to avoid the blow and his head would have been cleaved in a fraction of an instant.

As it was, Kain swung backwards, pivoting from the hip only just quickly enough to avoid the blade. Its gleaming edge came less than a talon's width away from slicing open his windpipe. The attack had been so swift and sudden, and with such a large weapon, that it had admittedly taken Kain off guard. Normally such a weapon as that was something one could only swing if one had the necessary strength, and even then it would be with difficulty. To bring it to bear so fast suggested that Puriel's strength was much greater than his general bulk suggested.

As though to emphasis this, Puriel brought the stolen axe back in a sharp blur of movement. His apparent musculature really ought not to have been physically capable of performing such a feat. But this time Kain was prepared for him, dancing backwards out of range of the swing before lancing forward with the serpentine blade of the Reaver, the movement a swift lunge towards Puriel's chest.

Puriel, however, slapped the incoming blade aside with one hand, the moment so sharp it seemed that his hand simply translocated from one place to another. Kain dove down more out of instinct than any strategic thought and the golden axe whistled through the space he had occupied a moment before rolling out of the way, then he swung the Reaver up to parry a strike as Puriel came at him too quickly to dodge again.

Axe and sword clashed several dozens of times, blade striking against blade, sparks flying. Both weapons made the air protest with how fast it was being split.

Finally Kain parted from the fray, leaping backwards while letting off a spark of eldritch energy from his palm. The flash shot between them, enough to force Puriel back and give Kain some space.

"So you are fast." The Emperor of Nosgoth observed flatly. Purial chuckled from behind his mask as he stepped back until he was level with the first row of Legionnaires.

"So quick to dismiss me as a common grunt, were you?" He asked. "Fool. Such an error can only be rewarded by death!" His hand rose, clenched into a fist, and Kain recognised a command when he saw one. Immediately he let his body fade into his mist form, and not a moment too soon as the Legionnaires let loose another volley of crossbow bolts. They shot through the misty essense to clatter off of the walls of the courtyard in a heavy bombarding rain. Behind him, Ajatar flattened herself to the floor to escape being hit, holding her hands over her head.

"You have struggled so long and so hard, but in the end you are little more than an ant standing in the way of a raging tidal wave!" Puriel stated as the crossbow Legionnaires stepped back to reload and another line stepped forward to take their place in perfect unison. "Surely you must see that! There are but two options: submit or die!"

"The coin is still turning." Kain remarked in reply. Puriel chuckled and slid back into the protection and anonymity of the ranks of Legionnaires.

The new row of silent soldiers raised their crossbows and fired with all the unnatural unison of a machine and an equal lack of hesitation. Another thick volley of bolts was loosed and once more Kain was forced to slide back into his immaterial mist form, dodging left and right and passing through the projectiles. He was given no immediate reprieve, for as soon as that barrage had passed the next row of Legionnaires stepped forth to fire another.

Grimly Kain realised the purpose of Ansu's theatrical execution had been to lure not just anyone out, but himself specifically, to entrap him. Perhaps it was arrogant to say, but unfortunately it was true. This entire resistance to Divus oppression hinged on him. If he died, then there would be nothing to prevent the Divus from carrying out their plans.

Nosgoth would have no future.

Ajatar slammed her hands down into the earth with a snarl and the ground rippled beneath what passed for Kain's feet as he felt her elemental power surge out of her. The Serioli skill she employed caused the ground to buckle up directly in front of them, a foot-thick wall of debris which provided a barrier against the barrage. Kain took the opportunity to solidify and back off. He doubted their enemies would allow such a barrier to persist for long.

"Kain, we cannot linger here!" Vorador was bellowing from the wall behind them, one hand grasping the edge of the parapet and the other waving in the air. "They're trying to distract us until the Dragon has a chance to dig his way out!"

Kain pursed his lips, quickly glancing back. That, of course, was another concern. They could not hope to hold any position against this army for long, and with Thanatos providing support, there would be nothing they could do. They had to take this opportunity to escape, for staying meant certain death.

There was a sudden crash followed by an intense deluge of dust as the improvised barrier exploded, fragments of stone flying everywhere. A shockwave of energy passed through the air, a feedback of powerful forces that slammed into Ajatar and sent her tumbling head over heels backwards until she fetched up against the far wall. Kain quickly was forced to dodge to the left as a golden axe blade came hurtling past.

Puriel was on him immediately, parting the dust with speed enough to cause a passage of wind to follow in his wake.

"Fool. There is no escape!" He declared, slashing Ansu's golden axe around in an arc that would have taken Kain's head off had he not deflected it with the Reaver. "Your deaths are on my schedule!"

Puriel's agility was nothing short of astounding. Once before Kain had encountered a being possessing reflexes and speed beyond the norm. Sebastian, a vampire who had sold himself in service to the Sarafan occupation so many centuries ago. He had possessed regrettably impressive speed. Puriel, however, put Sebastian to shame. His agility and pace were such that Kain had no time to do anything but block, dodge, and deflect on nothing but centuries of battle-honed instinct. He knew he could not keep on the defensive and expect to win, but Puriel was so quick that his assaults left him no quarter to plan his own attack.

His reprieve came without warning. A blur from above came hurtling into view and a spindly figure dropped out of the air, an ethereal blade screeching as it erupted from the right arm. Raziel had come to his aid, swinging the projected soul he called a weapon around in an almost dance-like flurry of movement, leaving long, glowing bands of light in its wake. Puriel dodged backwards, ducking left and right, stepping back and forth between each swing before finally sliding backwards out of the way in a rapid spin.

Puriel made to advance again, holding his stolen axe up in preperation for a lunge but Raziel preempted him, throwing up his left arm before himself. The device strapped to his wrist snapped out and flared into an elemental surge of energy. A shield formed between their enemies and themselves, swirling with a powerful blue radiance that Kain recognised as elemental water. A wall of ice rushed into being from thin air and the golden axe embedded itself six inches deep into this cold barrier and stuck there.

"Raziel, get her back to the others!" Kain snapped, half turning to glare as Ajatar staggered back to her feet, still dazed and shaken with blood running from a cut above her left brow. Raziel just grunted and did not carry out that order, holding his arm up with his strange device thrust forward. It seemed he could not move or the barrier he had erected would collapse. Puriel had wrenched Ansu's axe free and backed off several paces, seeing his attempt at battering his way through the ice was futile. At once the Legionnaires behind him advanced in a uniform line, leveling large pikes before them.

With a rhythmic ferocity they struck against the shield over and over, the blades chipping into the ice with the regularity of an incoming tide. Raziel was visibly straining as he fought to maintain the barrier, reforming the ice where he could. But there were simply too many attacks for him to fend off, like a horde of ants slowly overcoming a much larger beast. The vibrations created from the battering shook the ground beneath them, causing dust and small debris to leap and twitch around their ankles.

Ajatar did not retreat. Instead she held her ground, her face twisted into a mask of unrepressed fury. Her gaze, even through the ice, was locked firmly onto Puriel and the golden axe he had stolen from his victim. Before Kain could stop her she leapt into the air, beating her wings to drive herself up. As she ascended elemental fire burst from between her talons, running up her arms right to her shoulders. With a scream of utter hatred from her bloodied lips, she soared up over Raziel's shield of ice and unleashed an inferno upon the Legionnaires.

The flames swept forth to engulf the soldiers, none of whom flinched at all and simply stood there engaged in their task even while being consumed. The fire went on, fueled by Ajatar's rage until it arched up and threatened to crash directly to the waiting Puriel.

"No, stop!" Kain realized the ploy, but he was too late. The fire slammed down upon the Divus, who at the last second held forth the golden axe he had stolen and spun it about with one hand. His movements made the weapon blur into a circle of furiously spinning blades. Whether this was some learned Serioli technique or some power of which Kain was ignorant, he did not know, but whatever the method, Puriel took the fire unleashed at him about his spinning circle before sending it straight back.

There was a tremendous explosion of light and sound as fire collided with ice. Steam bellowed out thick as smoke, engulfing everything in a obscuring cloud of white. Raziel was thrown back by the force of the Grandmaster's redirected assault, dropping down to one knee and letting out a gasp of pain. Before Kain could make a move, Puriel was upon them again. His speed was incredible, darting past Kain fast enough to drag the steam after him and laying Raziel down with a kick directly to the face. The blue wraith did not have enough time to defend himself and was sent tumbling backwards head over heels.

Ajatar went for Puriel at once, summoning more fire between her hands. Puriel danced side to side, easily avoiding the torrents of flame that chased him. Her movements by this point desperate, Ajatar slapped her hands together to unleash a shockwave of flame at him. Puriel leapt over it with ease, spinning in midair before coming down at Ajatar. Ansu's golden axe spun with him and in that one fluid motion he would have split her skull in two had the attack connected.

Kain acted as quickly as his reflexes would allow. Lashing out at the only moment where Puriel's attention was entirely on Ajatar, the second just before the strike, he caught the Divus by the ankle. With one strained heave he tore Puriel out of the air and tossed him back. Then, as the Divus was hurled backwards, he raised one hand and shot a bolt of condensed telekinetic force directly into his body. Puriel had just enough time to make one startled grunt before being snapped back into the obscuring steam. His mask was torn from his face and hit the ground, shattering into pieces.

Ajatar made to go after him, fire still raging in her grasp. But Kain quickly seized her by the shoulders to forestall her.

"Release me!" She hissed at him, forgetting the respectful tone she routinely adopted when addressing the one to whom she had sworn allegiance. He snarled back at her, baring his fangs.

"Ajatar, he's antagonising you on purpose! To make us waste our time!" Kain shouted at her, shaking her in his grip. Ajatar only returned his roar with fierce indignation and resistance in her eyes. They were the eyes of someone overcome with emotion and the pain of loss.

Kain slapped her. Hard. The sound echoed about the ruins.

"Damn you!" He spat at her as she leaned back from the strike. "You are a professional soldier, you should know this!" She stared back at him, eyes wide and one hand raised to the cheek he had struck. Her expression was mulish and a half-step short of mutinous.

"He has to die!" Ajatar said and it sounded like the selfish whining of a child who wanted something from a parent. It was so pitiful and juvenile a declaration that it cut through her grief despite its strength. Her face flushed with indignation and she suddenly could not meet his gaze.

"Oh, he will. Trust me, he will." Kain told her, before with utter firmness giving her a shove back towards the blue wraith who was just now getting back to his feet. "Raziel, get her back!"

Ajatar might have made another move to protest and stay, but Raziel took hold of her and bodily dragged her back towards the wall and battlements, his strength more than sufficient for the task despite his emaciated form.

"Finish this, Kain, quickly!" He said, before hauling Ajatar back into the obscuring mists. Kain turned, Reaver in hand, to face the other direction. Through the cloud of steam he could see the dark outlines of the Legionnaires. They remained perfectly still, harmless as common statues. Whatever abominable creations these things were, they clearly were useless without an intelligent commander to give them orders.

"Come forth, Divus. I'm done playing with you." Kain declared in a loud and firm voice, dragging the Reaver's tip across the floor of the courtyard hard enough to produce a series of glowing sparks. "It's time to die."

Puriel reemerged from the steam, one hand held up to his face, blood leaking down between his talons. When he finally lowered his hand to reveal his face, Kain could see that his enemy had hidden severe disfigurement beneath his mask. A series of slash marks ran from left to right across the entirety of his face. He had been fortunate not to lose either of his eyes, but perhaps as cosmic recompense the wound had taken his nose. The entire feature had been cleaved right off to leave nothing but a healed patch of paler skin. It almost seemed like he had been born without a nose at all.

He was bleeding from the ear and from the corners of his lips. The bolt he had taken to the face must have either burst an eardrum or ruptured the lining of his throat. Perhaps both. Puriel spat out a bloodied, cracked tooth as he stretched his neck from side to side. Each turn elicited a series of cracks loud enough for Kain to hear from where he was standing.

"Ominous words, Kain." He said, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. With the other he idly tossed the golden axe into the air over and over, catching it again each time. "But you cannot kill what you cannot touch!"

Kain had been braced for a fast attack and believed himself prepared to spring in any direction, but the speed at which his enemy charged took him entirely off guard regardless. One moment Puriel had been standing a good twenty feet away. The very next instant a kick was being slammed with bone-shattering force directly into Kain's midsection. The blow forced all the air out of Kain's lungs and he staggered back from the impact.

Puriel arched around him like the flow of the air itself and only the glint of light reflecting off of the golden axe blade alerted Kain in time. The serpentine Reaver deflected the oncoming blow, then again, and again. Each time Puriel was darting away and then coming in from a different position, so fast he was leaving a fading afterimage in Kain's field of vision. All Kain could do was deflect the blows aimed at him, defend and nothing more.

"What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Puriel demanded, coming at Kain head-on. Kain lashed out, swinging the Reaver in an arc his enemy leapt directly over. His body spun like a leaf in the wind overhead before he knocked Kain forward with a kick to the back of the head. "And here I thought the great Kain would actually be a challenge!"

The Vampire sprawled onto the ground with a grunt from the blow and the Reaver was knocked from his grip, clattering on the ground and sliding out of reach. On his hands and knees Kain started to rise, knowing that he had to keep on his feet or his enemy would put him down in an instant.

But as he did so something...changed. It was subtle but no less profound, a sort of shift within himself. It felt like something inside him, some sort of barrier or obstruction had just been weakened. It was a paralysing sensation radiating from his chest, forcing itself out through the rest of his body bit by bit.

-0-

 **"Suddenly I could feel the blood within me surge and roil in my veins. The heart in my chest, the heart which the last of my sister's bloodline had kept safe for me, seemed to expand and swell with newfound strength and power. What manner of strange sensation was this?"**

-0-

The barrier was weakening further, like a dam holding back what had grown to a raging flood tide, worn down by physical abuse and ready to snap. Holding one hand over his heart, Kain drew in one deep, sharp breath and in doing so felt the barrier give way. A sudden rush, a surge of energy left him aghast.

Puriel was coming at him, the stolen golden axe held high, ready to strike and deliver the killing blow. A blow which, with that much momentum behind it, would cleave anything in two. But Kain did not move, nor did he make any attempt whatsoever to avoid the attack. Instead he welcomed it, held his ground. Instinct drove him, instructions burning inside his brain telling him what to do.

With one fierce motion he drew his talons down over his own chest, scoring deep into his flesh. Blood spurted from the wounds, a thick spray of dark red. Not a single drop touched the floor. Before him his own blood obeyed his will, totally under his command in a way he had never imagined before. When it burst forth it flew forward to the reach of his outspread free hand, streams of red gathering together and becoming solid.

Firmly he grasped that forming object, spun and gained his feet, and thrust it forth before him. It was a long spear, not an elegant or finely shaped weapon by any stretch, pitted and encrusted with drying blood, but it did have the quality needed for the task. It was sharp.

"What?!" Puriel cried out, but to no avail. His own speed worked against him and he was so close to delivering his own blow that he simply was not able to stop himself.

The two of them came together with a sickening crash. Puriel stiffened violently. His grip slackened and the golden axe of Ansu tumbled out of his grasp, falling to the ground with a heavy clatter. The Executioner of the Divus twitched once, twice, and then bowed his head to gaze down at the wound punched through his chest. The rippling red spear was buried straight through his torso, slid neatly through his rib cage and emerging out his back. Flesh hung from its pointed end and fresh blood ran freely into a steadily spreading pool on the ground around them.

-0-

 **"The very blood in my veins was a weapon, and a potent one at that. One which, when used with precision and grace, was lethal to any who dared stand in my way."**

-0-

"H...how?" The sound was little more than a wet whisper. One of his lungs had been punctured and the air required to make the noise was fleeting. Puriel raised a hand to the spear, trying to dislodge it, but his strength failed him and he lurched forward onto his knees. Kain caught him in one arm, lowering him there with his own grip on the spear as firm as ever. "You don't have… You can't do that..." The shift was just enough that Puriel's life blood now ran from his body in gushing rivers, splattering down Kain's chest and arms.

"It appears that I can." The Emperor of Nosgoth replied implacably. Slowly he reached down one hand and picked up the golden axe. "I will be taking this." He said, rising back up. Puriel stared after him, dumbfounded and paling as the life drained from him. Kain stood there, holding the axe over his kneeling enemy. His face was implacable, steely and filled with angry resolve.

A second head tumbled from its proper place that day.

"Kain! Get back here!" Vorador bellowed. While usually calm and well-spoken, the ancient Vampire could raise his voice to a thunderous roar when so required. Not that Kain needed the encouragement. As soon as Puriel lay dead at his feet, the Legionnaires advanced once more, not in a steady march but this time in a dead run. Propelling himself up from the ground in long bounds, Kain leapt from wall to wall to gain speed before finally hauling himself quickly over the top of the battlements just in time to avoid a flurry of crossbow bolts which hissed through the air after him.

"My lord, how did you do that?" Ajatar demanded, staring at him with wide eyes filled with awe. Her bloodied face had lost its vengeful mask, either through Puriel's death or from witnessing what had killed him. Or perhaps both. Kain glanced down at the golden axe he was still holding, the axe which had been used to cut down a Vampire who had sworn himself to his service and had followed him across time itself to that end. Its curving edge was dripping red.

"A question for another time." The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth replied grimly and handed Ajatar the axe. She took it from him, holding the weapon in both hands, and stared down at it with her lips pressed tightly together.

"Indeed. We must go, now!" Vorador told them both sharply, his voice intent. With one hand holding his sword he was gesturing out with its point towards the towering rubble which had once been the city's central palace. "Thanatos is rising. I can feel him. He'll be free of the rubble at any moment."

Not a one of them needed him to tell them that. The very ground was shaking beneath their feet. The mountain of rubble was trembling and twitching, pieces of it shuddering down its side. The air about them seemed to be growing thicker, as if being compressed in preparation for the unleashing of a titanic storm. Over it all there was an acute and powerful sense of outrage, of burning, white-hot anger. From the expressions all about him Kain could see that there was no one who could not taste that rage, never mind merely sense it.

As designated by the plan he had concocted, their numbers were limited. In order to supply the diversion necessary for the rest of their unlikely alliance to make their escape, they had served as bait to keep the Divus' attention on them. But now those small numbers worked against them, for none of them, singularly or united, was a match for the Dragon.

"In its heyday this city had many passages below ground leading to the territories of distant clans. No doubt some will still be passable." Raziel said, turning to point off towards the west and those districts of the city as yet untouched by the fighting.

"Then we must hurry." Vorador said with a nod, starting forward. Kain reached out and caught the ancient Vampire by the arm quickly.

"No, we must separate." He corrected him. Everyone turned to look at him with expressions that ranged from surprise to confusion to outright incredulity. Even the monstrously hulking Balam with crossbow bolts stuck in his shoulders appeared taken aback. This was certainly not part of the plan which he had told them about. In truth he had not intended this, but after seeing the size and strength of the enemy firsthand, Kain had realised only now there was no other option. "Smaller groups will attract less attention than large ones, especially with such a massive force hunting us."

Vorador frowned, his brow creasing. It seemed like he wanted to argue but simply had no ammunition with which to do so. Finally he sheathed his sword back at his side with a capitulating grunt.

"A bleak assessment, but not one I can find logical fault with."

"And smaller groups can travel faster." Balam added in a deep rumble, nodding but without much pleasure in it.

"You realise, of course, that when we seperate, we will not be able to use the Whisper to communicate. No doubt such telepathic communication would be scrutinized by the Divus' own skilled minds." Ajatar stated quickly, speaking Kain's own thoughts as soon as they occurred to him. "Or use translocation over any appreciable distance. Such magic would be detected."

Raziel placed his hands on his hips with a distinctly unamused expression arching his brow. "On foot, in small groups, devoid of magics and communication with our allies and pursued by the largest army to ever walk upon Nosgoth." He concluded. "Hardly an inviting prospect."

There was a brief pause of silent agreement to that sentiment.

"The sooner it's begun, the sooner it's done with." Vorador said into the silence as the ground shook again, reminding them all sharply of their peril.

"It seems for the moment, I must bid you farewell." Kain replied, his mind already filling with new plans to make on the events which had recently unfolded.

"Kain."

The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth stopped to look back over one shoulder. Vorador raised a hand and pointed a talon directly at the ring which had hung from Kain's ear for many centuries. A ring that he had made himself and given to a young vampire who had sought him out so many epochs ago. A ring which had helped restore its creator to life.

"Don't die." He said with an ironic smile twisting his lips. "It would be such a pity to lose you to the abyss." Those words, spoken once before so long ago, resonated profoundly. Kain could not help but find himself smiling back in return.

Raziel's eyes narrowed dangerously all of a sudden and he demanded in a distinctly unfriendly tone of voice, "Are you trying to be funny?!"


	7. Staring down the Dragon's fire

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The collapsed central chamber of the Razielim city was a towering pile of debris which had to have been a crushing weight. But when Thanatos arose he shouldered it aside as though it were nothing more than a stack of pebbles. His wings fanned out sharply, scattering the debris in all directions. A powerful gust of wind erupted from those wings, a rushing burst like the birth of a hurricane from still air. Ruined buildings were battered and set to leaning before crumbling and blowing away before such elemental fury.

- _"YOU WILL ALL BURN!"_ \- The Dragon's thundering, anger ridden voice lashed out in a mental screech. There was a flash, a surge of bright light, and an instant later billowing clouds of white hot flames were shooting down the streets of the ruined city one after the other. The fire spread over the ruins like a tidal wave, washing across everything in its path and reducing it to fragile char. Even Legionnaires which had not yet pulled back from the path of the Dragon's wrath were not exempt from such fury and were reduced to smoldering remains in a matter of seconds.

Thanatos spared nothing. His fire engulfed all the city which lay within his reach. The flames danced high into the sky as he fed them, more and more heat boiling free from his jaws. A thick column of black smoke rose into the air, far taller and more intense than even that which had been spewed from the Imperial smokestacks. The city of the Razielim, the once proud capital of the foremost clan of Kain's empire, suffered its final destruction then and there. When Thanatos finally relented, his flames had consumed everything.

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 **"As the Dragon vented his fury above, it seemed we had departed with not a moment to spare. The diversionary tactic was complete and, thus far, seemed to have been successful. Our allies were free, at least for the time being. All that mattered now was to escape, to rendezvous with as many of the others as we could so that the Divus could be countered once and for all. It all seemed so simple, but fate had yet to be kind to me in such things and I had no reason to suspect it of a change of heart now."**

-0-

Raziel stood for a long moment staring back up the tight passage through which they had climbed, a trail of wispy smoke falling down after them. His expression, eyes narrowed but eyebrows arched, was one of whimsical regret and a distant longing. As the roof of the cavern above shuddered some dust free, the blue wraith finally shook his head and turned to join the other two of his group.

"Hail and farewell." He sighed, finally leaving the last, clinging memories of his clan and people to perish in the blaze.

The caverns below the city were a mixture of both natural openings and carved tunnels, all interconnected like an ant colony or hive of bees. Having extensive underground dwellings was prudent for any Vampire settlement, when there were fragile fledglings about who had not yet developed the resistance to sunlight. In such caverns they would be housed, trained, and expected to prove their worth if they were ever to join their elder kin on the surface. Now such chambers were still and deathly quiet.

Ahead of them there was a grunt. Ajatar-Cadre was leaning against a side wall with one hand, one of her wings suddenly trailing on the ground. Her feathers did not rustle and soon, as Raziel summoned the wraith blade to once more provide light, Kain could see why. They were matted together with blood and she was smearing a long red trail across the floor.

"You're hurt." He stated, stepping forth from the shadow into the wraith blade's light to examine the injury. Kain reached out with both hands to tenderly open the wing without so much as waiting for a response from her. The three of them had separated from the others, leaving them to venture down alone into the caverns, guided by Raziel's knowledge of the city and its various passageways. Three was a good number for a small group, easily able to conceal itself and traverse vaster distances with greater speed.

Ajatar let out a hiss of pain as her wing was extended. Sure enough, buried into her flesh at the joint just above the shoulder bone was a large bolt. It was thicker than the common crossbow ammunition, being at least an inch across. It looked more like a metal stake than a bolt close up. Frowning, Kain took hold of the intrusion and began to slowly withdraw it. The thing was long, very long, and came out a good foot from her chest before its pointed tip finally slid free with a wet squelch. Blood spurted down over her side and the Grandmaster of the Serioli let out a cry, stumbling against Kain who kept her upright. Kain tossed the spike away where it clattered loudly on the floor.

"I've had worse before, I'll be fine." She said but in a voice which noticeably wavered. Kain looked at her with a flat, unimpressed expression for the bravado.

"You need blood. You're lucky that didn't hit anything vital." He told her sternly. Ajatar raised a hand to her belt, fumbling for something, but ultimately shook her head.

"I left my last bottle…" She admitted. The Serioli practise of taking the blood of Humans and bottling it for later use had proven beneficial more than once before, but it seemed their current supply must have run dry. Kain sighed, shaking his head. Supporting her with one arm, he raised his free wrist to his mouth and without pause bit down sharply into his own skin.

"Here." He said, offering her the bleeding wrist. Ajatar looked up at him, her eyes focusing on the offered sustenance. It seemed to take a moment for her to grasp what was being placed before her and her eyes widened in sudden confusion.

"Lord Kain, I… It wouldn't be proper, I..." She started, albeit with her tongue slightly extended past her lips. Kain simply held his wrist closer.

"Drink, Ajatar." He commanded her with absolute authority in his voice. She needed no further encouragement than that. She quickly moved forward and latched her lips onto the wound, drinking the blood from him eagerly in order to replenish her own energies. Kain carefully monitored just how much he was allowing her to take, for his own strength had been taxed by the battle and he knew he was going to need as much of it as he could call upon.

Once he saw the wound left by the spike begin to finally close and seal shut, he firmly pulled his wrist away from her lips. Ajatar hung there momentarily, panting with her tongue extended and blood dripping from her fangs and lips.

"Better?" He asked her, allowing his Dark GIft to heal the self-inflicted injury. With a shiver Ajatar recovered herself and pulled her wing into its proper position against her back, although not without a slight wince.

"Y..yes, my lord, thank you." She panted, before wiping her lips with the back of one hand. As she did he could see the steel bracers she customarily wore had become dented and scratched quite badly.

High above, muffled by the interceding rock, Thanatos' cry echoed loudly. The ceiling trembled again and a stalactite nearby shook free from its moorings and tumbled to the floor with a crash.

"The Dragon isn't giving up. It must know we have not gone far." Raziel said, holding the wraith blade up to cast more light.

"I did not expect him to let us slip away quietly, Raziel." Kain grunted flatly while adjusting the leather bracers he wore across his forearms. Ominously he gazed up at the ceiling above, as though he could see through it to the no doubt still circling monster. "A beast like that expects a kill at the end of its hunt."

Raziel cocked his head to one side, listening to the cries coming from above. They were all angry sounds, screeches of annoyance and frustration.

"I suppose no roars of triumph mean that the others have gotten away safely." He mused idly as though to himself. Kain shook his head.

"That would be fortuitous, but it would be best to assume nothing at this juncture."

"No optimism, Kain? After all, we succeeded, did we not?" Raziel asked, looking down again to give Kain a whimsical sort of amused stare. Kain stared right back, his face completely rigid and emotionless.

"Optimism is expensive, Raziel, and our balance has been dangerously taxed of late. For all its faults, pessimism is at least cheap." He said. To that Raziel let out a little chuckle and walked past him, carrying his ghostly blade before him like an ethereal torch.

"You sound like Vorador." The blue wraith opined. Kain folded his arms across his chest and creased his brow in a deep frown.

"And you can keep the insults to yourself."

Raziel led the way, taking a slow pace and pausing every now and then to listen to the sounds coming from above. It would do them no good now to be discovered in their escape by the Legionnaires, or worse still, the Dragon. The caverns were pitch black and Kain was glad Raziel was illuminating their path for them. He could have easily done so, of course, but at the cost of energy. Raziel seemed to waste nothing in using his weapon so.

Finally they came to a carved room which had three doorways leading off right, left, and straight ahead. The passage to the left, however, had collapsed, debris piling up in the opening. The path straight ahead was barred shut by a large, rusted iron door with the Razielim symbol upon it. The doorway to the right was ajar, but wafting from that passage was a distinctly unpleasant smell. Bad air, stale and still. That usually meant there was no way on the other end.

Crossing over the room, Raziel went for the closed door on the far side. The blue wraith tried the latch, but it was rusted shut and did not move. Raziel backed off several steps, paused, and then slammed his body against it. For such an emaciated being his lunge had a great deal of momentum in it and the door shuddered on impact, the lock giving way with a crunch of crumbling metal.

"This passage heads west , but only for a short way. If it's intact we will emerge in what was once the outer city district." Raziel said, pushing the door open against the protest of its long-dormant hinges and revealing the way beyond with the glow of his sword. A flight of stairs was revealed, descending down into utter blackness. Kain stared after it for a moment before giving Raziel a sidelong look.

"That place was claimed long ago by another." He said slowly, a gentle reminder. Raziel nodded without looking around.

"Yes, I know, it's part of the Melchahim necropolis now." Then he started down, leaving the other two to either follow him or be lost in perpetual blackness.

As they descended, Ajatar frowned thoughtfully. Her chin was still stained with Kain's blood and she was holding her only mostly healed wing rather tight against her body, the other spread much more loosely.

"I saw their kind before." She admitted with some hesitation into the silence, her voice echoing down the stairwell. "The state to which they had degenerated was shocking. It was hard to believe they were Vampires."

"Unfortunately they were, they and all the other clans which mutated." Kain grunted, shaking his head slightly in some small dismay. "Balam and his Turelim, as you saw, became monstrously large with the raw strength to match."

"The Melchahim were not so fortunate. They inherited the weakness of their sire, for their skin was mortal while the rest of their flesh was not." Raziel, still in the lead, continued the gruesome history lesson. His wings trailed after him as he walked, the light of his blade playing off them to give each a faint ethereal glow like a cloud of fireflies. "And so blood was not the only tithe they took from Humans. Typically they were skinned as well to replace their rotting originals."

Ajatar visibly recoiled at this intelligence, leaning back with her eyes widening. Her lips drew away from her teeth in disgust and she shuddered, her good wing rustling noisily against her back.

"And this is our evolution?" She asked in bafflement, shaking her head side to side as though trying to contemplate such a thing, yet ultimately failing.

"Hardly." Kain told her, earning him her confusion. He pressed his lips together slightly as though he did not wish to continue, but then finally elaborated. "All Vampires of this era, save Vorador and his Cabal, were descended from me. It was from me that each of them inherited a small measure of the corruption that had infected me since the fall of the Circle. Ultimately, I am responsible for the degenerate plight of every modern Vampire."

It was not an easy thing to admit, even though he had already done in the privacy of his own mind. Doing so, aloud and in front of others, was somehow different. It felt as though he had exposed something he had kept protected for a long time and the sensation was almost akin to being naked in public.

"Pessimistic, but not humble, I see." Raziel said with amusement, gazing back over one shoulder. Kain returned the look for a long, silent moment. Then he smiled, a cruel grin which almost connected both ears.

"If you ponder it, Raziel, I spared you from the corruption." The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth stated. Raziel's eyes widened outright comically at that statement. "You saw the horrors that your brothers became. Could you imagine what you might have transmogrified into had I not cast you into the abyss?"

The blue wraith came to a sudden halt right then and turned to face him. Kain stopped a few steps above him, arms crossed over his chest and head cocked to one side, still smiling wide. Ajatar looked between them somewhat nervously as the silence lengthened.

"I doubt whatever form I might have hypothetically taken would have been worse than my current one." Raziel finally said in a flat tone. "At least I would have my dignity."

"Did Melchiah have dignity?" Kain asked in return and his smile faded distinctly. He looked suddenly very grim. "Did any of them? Really? You would have ended up a monster regardless, Raziel." The two of them held their gazes, focus locked on one another in a long pause of tense silence.

Ajatar looked as though she were about to intervene, to say something, when finally Raziel turned his head away with a snort of disgust and began down the stairs again.

"Remind me to thank you enthusiastically for such mercy later." His voice echoed as he descended.

"You're so enjoyable when you're sarcastic…" Kain chuckled, starting after him and leaving the by now anxious Ajatar to bring up the rear. Raziel led the way, again silent as the stairs kept going down and down, circling around what seemed like a large central pillar of rock. It had to be one of the main supports for the city itself, large columns of stone which had been left to help keep the city in place despite the honeycomb of tunnels beneath it. Finally, however, the wraith turned his head to look back, one eye widening quizzically.

"Although, speaking of evolution, just what was that back there, Kain?" He began, asking a question which Kain had hoped he could avoid for a while longer. "I've known you for at least ten centuries and I've never seen you do something like that before."

Recalled to the event, Ajatar frowned and raised one hand to her chin as she turned her head to look at the one she had sworn her allegiance to. Her expression was confused and questioning.

"It looked as though you were calling the blood from your own body and it obeyed you." She added in her own observations. Kain stayed silent and lowered his chin to his chest, frowning at the steps they were traversing.

"I've seen Vorador's Cabal perform a similar technique, but even they couldn't make solid objects out of their own blood." Raziel said. "Sally called it the 'blood gout,' but that was different somehow…"

Kain nodded once. He knew of the ability, of course, the power to use one's own blood as a weapon, to strike the enemy with it and syphon off their own to replenish that spent in the attack. But Raziel was indeed correct. This had been different. His blood had been so totally under his control it was as though he had command of every single particle within it. Ordering them to create a simple shape such as a sharp spear had been effortless. The iron in his blood had been easy to transmute and refine, as though he were calling the metal up out of the ore from which it was smelt.

"I wish I could provide an explanation." He admitted into the expectant silence. He raised one hand and laid it over his chest and the spot he had clawed himself. The rip in his flesh had healed by now and his talons drummed idly over the fading scars. "What I did was nothing but instinct. It was like a rising of power coming from my chest."

Raziel narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, thinking, before they widened. Raising a talon, he pointed directly at Kain's chest.

"Your heart!" He proclaimed loudly, his almost triumphant voice echoing up and down the stairs several times. At Kain's questioning expression he continued. "Remember, Kain, for centuries your heart had in fact been Janos'! You owe your own Vampirism to the Heart of Darkness." Kain nodded, frowning still in his incomprehension as to where the blue wraith was going with this. "Now your own heart has been restored and it must be reasserting itself over your body."

Kain's frown deepened as he tried to ponder such an idea, his talons drumming harder on his skin. He had not forgotten the ghastly procedure by which his own original heart, kept alive by the descendants of his Human sister, had been restored to his body. It was an experience no amount of time would ever lessen the effect of. But it had saved his life and allowed him to finally defeat Raziel's first incarnation, the arrogant Raziel-Divus and the original king of their enemy.

"But what does that mean?" Ajatar asked, just as confused, giving Raziel a look.

"Vampires, or at least Vampires who were born Human, develop new powers as they grow in age and experience. As time passes, those powers become more and more unique to that individual Vampire. But Kain, up until somewhat recently, had been carrying around inside him the heart of Janos Audron. It was his blood running through his veins." Raziel explained, gesturing in Kain's direction with the wraith blade.

"So you mean the evolution of my Dark Gift was not my own?" Kain asked, finally looking up, although with genuine surprise and curiosity. Raziel nodded.

"Perhaps not." He agreed, circling the tip of his blade over the left-hand side of Kain's chest in an ominous gesture. "And now that your proper heart is back, your body is adjusting, compensating; developing the powers you _would_ have had otherwise."

It was certainly possible, Kain had to concede. Then again, exactly what necromantic powers had been used by Mortanius to both bind the Heart of Darkness to him and keep his own alive in a different host was a secret he would never discover now. Nor was he entirely certain how such magics would interact with the Dark Gift, the ancient curse laid upon his kind by the Hylden so long ago.

"An interesting theory, Raziel." He finally allowed. "A very interesting theory indeed…" A smile then crept slowly across his face. "But if true, it would mean my evolution is not yet over."

Raziel shrugged in response.

"How long had you lived with Janos' heart instead of your own, Kain? Such development is not to be made up in a day." The blue wraith said, lowering his blade. "I suspect your heart has more surprises in store for you."

Kain's smile spread into an almost vulpine grin of anticipatory malice.

"Then I shall just have to await new developments, should they arise."

They all turned to move on but suddenly Raziel thrust out an arm to bar their way, his head turning sharply this way and that as though listening to something only he could hear.

"Wait!" He said quite harshly, eyes narrowed. The three of them hung there in the faint luminosity of the wraith blade, each of them poised and tensed. There was nothing. All beyond their light was total darkness and the only sounds were the gentle flow of sluggish air which had begun to move back and forth across the stairs, as the doorway at the top was now open. Kain was about to say something when the blue wraith sharply turned and thrust his body against them both, pushing them back up the stairs the way they had come.

"Get back!" Raziel began to shout. His words were drowned out by a thunderously loud tearing, a pounding crack as rocks overhead gave way and broke apart. A cascade of dust poured down from the ceiling of the passageway before the stones tumbled free, breaking apart and crashing down onto the stairs. Through the dust advanced the battering ram which had broken through into the tunnel from above, a colossal forearm the width of a tree trunk with digits that ended in curved talons. A beastly hand groped about in the darkness, scrabbling its three-foot claws over the stone, leaving gashes in its wake.

- _"I know you're there, gnats!"_ \- It came from above, a vindictive and spiteful hiss rolling against their minds like the crash of a wave upon the shore. -" _Come out of those holes so I can end this!_ "-

The three of them had retreated back up the stairs out of reach of the Dragon's furiously scrabbling claws. Exactly how Thanatos had detected them down here Kain had no idea, but the beast must have ripped his way through several dozen feet of solid rock in order to get at them. The strength in just one of its forelimbs was proven remarkable indeed.

- _"My patience grows thin! Come out!"_ \- Thanatos' voice echoed through their minds.

"Is there a way around?" Kain asked under his breath, one hand against the wall and another poised over his shoulder, ready to grasp the hilt of the Reaver.

"Unfortunately not." Raziel replied in an equally hushed voice. "And I doubt we could double back without leaving ourselves exposed."

Glancing back up the way they had come, Kain unfortunately had to concur. Going back the way they had come would put them in danger of the beast tracking them to a place where they might be more easily pried out, or perhaps even herded into the grasp of the Divus' stolen Legion. The only way they could go was forward, past the Dragon's scraping, scratching claws.

"Then we're just going to have to make him let us by." Kain murmured, growling in frustration at being hindered now of all times, and by a seemingly impassable obstacle.

"And how do you plan to make him do that?"

An excellent question. Direct confrontation was completely out of the question. Goading and diversionary tactics were not likely to work again. Thanatos would no doubt be wiley to such ploys now. He would not be distracted. Once he set his eyes on something the Dragon simply would not be diverted. But perhaps that was something that could be used? If the beast was truly so single-minded, then what would happen if they gave him something more pressing to think about?

"He called us 'gnats'. An ordinary gnat is of no consequence and no threat." Kain observed, a smile slowly parting his lips as he watched the Dragon's large paw withdraw from the hole it had created. From above the low rumble of a predatory growl vibrated the air. "Unless it bites you in _just_ the right spot."

Quickly he glanced about for something he could use to affect the plan that was hurriedly assembling in his mind. There was plenty to work with, for the Dragon's claws had torn up a great deal of masonry, leaving a pile of rubble laying twisted down the stairwell before them. He pointed to it, looking back at Ajatar. She caught his gaze, her lips twitching as she took his meaning and then nodded in understanding.

"Wait for my word." He told her quietly, slipping past them both and edging towards the carved opening. The hole which had been torn through from the surface was quite wide, perhaps a dozen feet or more. High above he could make out a lurking shadow with spread wings gazing down. A pair of eyes was glaring into the hole through a thick iron visor attached to the skull of that equine head.

- _"Do you think hiding from me is going to work? I can smell your corrupt stink!_ "- The Dragon's thought cracked down from high above. Kain quickly judged the distance between himself and that looming head. Perhaps about a hundred feet, maybe a hundred-ten. At the end of that serpentine neck, the head was going to able to move very quickly and they were only going to get one opportunity. Glancing back to make sure Ajatar was in position, Kain nodded to her before calling out.

"I would have thought the great Thanatos would have no problem extracting us himself!" He shouted up, affecting a distinctly contemptuous and mocking tone. "Do not tell me you find yourself outwitted by a hole in the ground? Just come on in and get us if you're so powerful!"

Above, Thanatos the last Dragon snorted with embers of flame dancing free from his jaws like fireflies.

- _"You are the ones hiding like the vermin you are in the darkness."_ \- A large claw circled the hole he had made ominously, sending small pieces of debris tumbling down. - _"And you are trying to vex me. To provoke me into making a mistake. I will not fall for the same trick twice, Vampire._ "-

Kain smiled at that.

"Well, if you won't come in and we won't come out, what will you do, lizard?" He called up mockingly. "We seem to be at an impasse."

-" _Wrong. If you will not come out, then I will just have to turn your sanctuary into a funeral pyre!_ "- The beast replied and Kain watched as he placed both forepaws to either side of the hole and began to rear up, spreading his wings. His huge chest expanded and a hot, bubbling orange glow grew from between those jaws. Kain held up one hand to Ajatar, holding it steady, waiting for just the right moment; as the dragon reached the end of his flexive rearing.

"Now!" The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth called back, throwing one arm down sharply. Instantly Ajatar slammed her foot down into the stairwell, calling on the elemental power of earth which was hers to command as Grandmaster of the Serioli. A large piece of rubble rocketed up out of the hole, propelled by her skill, blasting high towards the looming beast.

As Thanatos threw his head down and spread his jaws ready to burst forth the hot elemental fire, the debris flew up to meet him.

At the last possible second Ajatar smacked her hands together and then pushed her arms out wide. In response, the debris burst from one single piece into many hundreds of small projectiles roughly the size of pellets. Each one of them soared right into the dragon's maw and battered with relentless fury against the inside of his unprotected throat.

-0-

 **"I had observed before that when employing his mastery of elemental power, particularly fire, Thanatos had opened his mouth each and every time before unleashing his attack. Perhaps he might find himself less inclined to call upon such raw might with his throat torn up from the inside."**

-0-

The fire Thanatos had been preparing to incinerate them with died instantly, evaporating into wisps of black smoke. The beast staggered backwards, hopping awkwardly on one hind leg, clawing at his throat with forelimbs and wings. A strangled, gurgling noise was all that escaped him before he collapsed onto one side, mostly out of view. With his body twitching and writhing in agony, the dragon was set to a hoarse coughing, heaving and struggling for breath. Blood and a few pellets flicked over the edge of the hole.

"Quickly now, let's go!" Kain cried and leapt over the gap in the stairwell to the far side, racing down the remaining stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. The others were right behind him, following him down and down deeper into the bowels of the earth where even the Dragon would be powerless to reach them. Above the sound of Thanatos writhing about, coughing to try and clear his windpipe of the shrapnel faded away,

"Interesting tactic." Raziel observed as they raced on, quickly coming up alongside Kain with the wraith blade still lighting the way. "Never considered simply giving my enemy a sore throat before."

"A weak spot we ought to remember in future. I doubt we're done with him yet." Kain replied grimly. "Now let us be out of this city before he regains his breath."


	8. The shadow of death

-0-

-0-

-0-

It took some time to be free of the dark, twisting maze of chambers, tunnels, and passageways of the now devastated city of the Razielim. But Raziel led the way unerringly until they emerged out of a doorway which had been built into what appeared from the outside to be a stone coffin set against a wall. The false back of the coffin was a door on a mechanism which had been remarkably well-preserved considering how long it had gone without use.

Raziel dismissed the wraith blade, leaving them in near total darkness. Stepping out of the hidden entrance, the blue wraith paused, listening in the shadows for a long moment before venturing out step by slow step into the chamber beyond. The room was oddly narrow, but also long, lined with a series of elaborately carved sarcophagi along each fake one which hid the passageway to underneath the city proper was indistinguishable amongst the others.

Kain held out his hand to summon a ball of magical light but Raziel, perhaps hearing him move or simply knowing him that well even after everything, reached back and took hold of his arm.

"No." He said softly, his eyes faintly luminous in the dark. "Not until we know whether we're alone or not."

Kain hesitated at that, glancing up and down the length of the narrow chamber, before lowering his arm and nodding. Raziel released him and started down the empty catacomb, methodically going from sarcophagus to sarcophagus, peering into each one. He even went so far as to remove the lid of a closed one to check inside before replacing it. It was slow going, but he searched everything before coming to a pitted steel door at the far end. It seemed this entire journey had taught his admittedly impulsive firstborn a bit of caution.

After listening there for a moment, the blue wraith put his weight against it and heaved. The door gave way with only a moderate squeak of its hinges. By the carved stone pillars to either side of the revealed archway beyond, Kain could see the chamber they just passed through had been a mausoleum. The faint light from outside highlighted the stone caskets in greater detail, revealing their carved lids which each bore the likeness of a Vampire with exposed fangs and their arms crossed over the chest, noble in their last, eternal rest.

Beyond was the wide expanse of a ridge which overlooked a ravine outlined by many buildings. Some were tall, some were squat. Most were square, but there were a few round domes to interrupt the pattern here and there. All were made out of the same dull stone which once upon a time would have been shining white but now, with the passage of the ages, was a dull, mossy green. The visage of tombs stretched off as far as the eye could see in either direction, an unbroken line of sealed crypts and mausoleums and, hanging here and there in dirty tatters, were the frayed banners of clan Melchahim.

-0-

 **"The Necropolis, the ancient, sprawling tombs of the honoured Imperial dead. Those Vampires who had fallen and could not be raised again were placed here to be enshrined for their commitment to their duty. Even Humans who had submitted to Imperial rule and served their masters with distinction had had the option of being put to rest here. But when the clans began their descent into animalistic tribalism, the Melchahim had plundered the dead here for fresh corpses to raise as replacement fledglings. For centuries it had been a breeding ground of debased ghouls. Now, all was still. A graveyard in every sense of the word."**

-0-

Kain glanced back up behind him. Looming above was a vertical cliff of perhaps some hundred feet, upon which the yet burning ruins of the Razielim city smoldered. Smoke was rising high into the air and blanketing the mausoleum in far darker shadows than would be normal for this time of day, were normal a word that applied to much any longer. Everything had a strange, unearthly quality to it, the fire above leaving a cloying charcoal taste on the tongue no matter it was far above them. But most importantly, that was all that came from above. Either they had evaded the Dragon, or Thanatos was still curled up somewhere trying to clear his throat of shrapnel.

Raziel, meanwhile, was perched on the edge of the ridge, gazing along the deep, narrow street of tombs back and forth like a predatory hawk. His ruined wings dangled over the edge, for once utterly limp in the dead air. Ajatar had come up alongside him, her yet tender wing tucked tightly to her side and the other half fanned out, flapping occasionally with a faint rustle. Both of them looked knocked about and battle worn. Ajatar's red toga was torn in several places and her skin was scuffed and bloody across her knees and thighs. Raziel's slender body was covered in grime and he seemed to droop, as though the sustaining energy he used to maintain himself was running low.

"Nothing." The wraith finally said to break the silence. "They're gone." He stood up, his ruined wings moving as he did only to fall still once more.

"All of them?" Kain asked warily, walking up beside them and gazing down himself. The floor of the ravine was a drop of another fifty feet straight down the side of an elaborate tomb with carved figures holding up a buttress.

"All I can say is that I sense nothing." Raziel stated flatly. Kain grunted and folded his arms over his chest.

"Hardly the most reassuring of assessments." He muttered, glancing left and right along the ravine itself. It curved inward either side so that both ends were out of sight behind towering pillars of stone. Everything was indeed very quiet here. The only sounds to break the silence were the cracklings of the flames and their own breathing.

"We're still too close to the city for my liking." The Vampire muttered, tapping his chin with a talon. "We need somewhere we can stop and make a new plan."

They had no set destination for the scattered groups to reconvene. There was no single location in Nosgoth that would hide or shield all of them from the Divus and their overwhelming military force. There were, however, a few places that might be likely destinations for the others to attempt to reach and they needed to take the time to reason out which should be their own end goal.

Raziel narrowed his eyes and raised his head, gazing out across the peaked rooftops of the tombs all about him. After a moment he raised a hand and pointed to the far distance where a roof rather like a pyramid was rising above the others, barely visible in the black twilight all about them.

"The charnel house where Melchiah made his lair isn't far. If it's free of denizens it might serve." He said. Kain grimaced slightly. While certainly not squeamish in any sense of the word, Melchiah's lair had been a place of ghoulish perversion where the skins of victims were hung and prepared like tanned leather. It had been a degraded, filthy pit where suffering was assured for Human and Vampire alike. However, he could not deny the logic which had made Raziel choose it. If nothing else, the Divus would like as not never think to look for them in there.

"If it's not free now it soon will be. Very well." He said, although unable to help a certain grim reluctancy creeping into his tone.

It did not take them long to reach the bottom of the ravine, scaling the sides of the tombs and leaping from narrow ledges. The floor of the street of tombs was made of the same tarnished green stone and was stained black in several places where the smell of spilled blood yet lingered, even after so long. Ancient bones were still here, blown into corners by the wind and caked in gathered dust. Kain took point this time, guiding them along the street and keeping to the shadows as best as possible. They certainly did not want to be visible from the air.

Signs of the ravaging Melchahim ghouls were everywhere. Each crypt they passed had been pried open, their doors either ajar or hanging loose off their hinges. As they had degraded both physically and mentally, the Melchahim had resorted to raiding the tombs of fallen Vampires in order to recruit new fledglings. Reanimating a Vampire's corpse as a fresh, new Vampire was not a process to be undertaken by any with a modicum of self-respect and was difficult to accomplish, but it was possible.

By now, however, the Melchahim, already a clan in decline, had lost their patriarch and with it their organising intelligence and coordination. Divided, decaying, and leaderless, the Melchahim had been easy to hunt down for the expanding Vampire hunters, or to be overtaken by other stronger Vampires. Whether they, like the Razielim, were now totally extinct was unknown, but at best there could be no more than a handful of survivors now. The defiled state of this once sanctified place of eternal rest was a standing testament to their clan's final ignoble existence.

"It might be best if we attempt to rendezvous with the Hylden first." Ajatar said quietly with her voice making no echo through the narrow space, glancing back the way they had come for a moment. "They might travel back to more familiar territory, nearer Avernus. Perhaps by a northern route."

Kain half turned at her statement and paused, giving her a long look. He took her in right then and there, every aspect of her. She was worn down, battle grim, and still weak from injury. But her eyes seemed to burn still with emotion bubbling just beneath the surface, full of indignant fury and an unfocused longing. At her side was the golden axe he had given her, retrieved from the murderer Puriel. She was resting one hand on its hilt rather than her two short swords.

Kain frowned deeply. He had hoped he wouldn't have to say anything, but clearly he was going to have to intervene. He stopped still in his tracks to bring their group to a halt. Ajatar reared back slightly, confused by the sudden stop.

"Ajatar, I wonder at you for even making such a suggestion." The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth began in a very harsh voice. Reaching back over his shoulder he drew the Reaver, making his two companions look at him warily. But Kain did not brandish the weapon at them. Instead he placed its point down on the ground and rested his hands on the pommel, giving him a distinctly formal appearance. The stance he took, looking down upon her with firm judgement in his eyes was not lost on Ajatar.

"M..my lord?" She asked, straightening, eyes wide in confusion.

"You suggest we step into the midst of a people who might be allied with us for the moment, but by no means are our friends. Hardly a sound strategic move to guarantee our safety. I might even call it foolhardy." He told her and had the satisfaction of seeing her flinch. He held her gaze for a long moment before finally coming to the point. "And I suspect an ulterior motive for your wanting to rendezvous with them."

Ajatar drew in a sharp breath and held it, her lips pressed together and eyes wide as she took his meaning. Kain watched her reaction and grimly took it as the final proof he needed for his assessment of the situation.

"Many of us have those we wish to reassure and console. You are no exception. Perhaps even the best example." He said.

"My lord, I…" The Serioli Grandmaster started, a thousand excuses and explanations piling into her mouth and colliding on her tongue. Kain snarled, baring his fangs, instantly silencing her before another word could be spoken.

"Do not play the fool with me, Ajatar!" He snapped harshly. Her face visibly paled and she went quiet, staring. After a pause, though, Kain smiled again with some wry amusement. "Although I suppose I must congratulate you. You may be the first Vampire in the history of our entire species to be kissed by a Hylden."

Raziel blinked at this intelligence. "She was what?"

Ajatar was flushed and both of her wings were rustling their feathers in their characteristic way behind her. Even her injured one was twitching about in what could only be called acute embarrassment.

"That...was just unexpected." She mumbled in a voice which wavered noticeably. "It was a tense moment, that's all!"

"'Tense' is not the word I would use…" Kain muttered and then drew himself up imperiously. "I know not what passes between the two of you, nor do I really care. But I would make plain to you that such things are not to affect your judgement, especially in regards to any suggestions you care to make to me."

"Lord Kain, I would never..!"

"You jeopardized yourself and others in an emotional outburst and now you are allowing your own desires, consciously or not, to corrupt your judgement." He overode her objection swiftly. His words seemed to cut her forcefully and she stood there rigidly. "Look me in the eye and tell me I am wrong." She didn't. She couldn't, because it was true and they both knew it in that grim moment. "Professionalism, Ajatar. I thought at the very least that was something I could expect from you. Given your recent performance I am given to wonder."

Ajatar stood there silently, arms tense at her sides before her head hung in shame and she lowered her gaze from him.

"I beg your forgiveness, my lord. It won't happen again." She said in a voice which was full of palpable self-recrimination. Kain grunted and slid the Reaver back into position over his shoulder.

"Then we have nothing further to discuss on the matter." He stated firmly and without another word turned about and started off, re-assuming the trek as though nothing had happened. The other two were left to catch up with him after they had taken a moment to assimilate that awkward confrontation.

The street opened out into a larger square after a short while, a flat, open space with long Melchahim banners hanging from rusty poles crudely set, jutting out from irregular points. A flight of greenish stone stairs rose up on the far side, snaking through the tombs on either side towards the pyramid which was much closer by now. Two opposing gates were set to either side of the pyramid, barred shut with large iron bolts holding them in place. The gloom all about them made the far end of the square indistinct and hazy, even though it could not be more than fifty feet away.

Ajatar moved forward to scout ahead without so much as saying a word. With the golden axe in one hand and the less damaged of her swords in the other, she moved out to peer around the square, checking various tombs for signs of activity. Her attitude was one of patient, steady practicality, and she seemed entirely focused on her immediate task. Kain smiled faintly to himself at seeing her change in demeanor. It seemed she had taken his words to heart.

"That was harsh." Raziel observed softly from behind him. Kain's smile vanished and he half turned to find the blue wraith regarding him with an infuriatingly judgemental look in his eyes.

"My people need to be at their best, Raziel. I will accept nothing less." He replied in a soft voice that he did not want to carry, returning the look with an unfriendly stare. "Nor did I invite commentary on how I choose to discipline my subordinates."

Raziel cocked his head to one side and folded his arms over his emaciated chest, one eyebrow raised up.

"I used to be one of your subordinates, Kain, and thus I feel myself uniquely qualified to give commentary when commentary is needed. And I'll give it whenever I damn well please." He said. Kain's answering expression was far from impressed.

"And just what witty observation are you inclined to make?" He asked irritably. Raziel leaned back against a grimey green wall, one foot resting upon the toes of the other.

"As you said, Kain, we all have something we need to hold on to here. Someone for whom we feel the need to carry on." The blue wraith said, narrowing one eye. "And we all have someone for whom all other considerations fall aside, even in the face of logic."

Kain was no fool and could see exactly where Raziel was going with this.

"Umah does not command or distract me." He cut in swiftly, his expression tight. Raziel tilted his head back and let out a short bark of laughter.

"HA! If Umah wished, I think she could get you to do just about anything!" His voice carried across the square and Ajatar paused to glance back at them. Kain's answering expression of profound disapproval made her quickly return to her duty. "The way she struts and circles about you, confident and sure like a shark around its prey, is proof enough of that."

"I killed her once before for betraying me." The would-be Emperor of Nosgoth replied with flat scorn, a frown creasing his face. Raziel wagged a talon back at him.

"And that is the source of her hold over you." He said. "I never quite understood your restraint on the matter during the time I served you and the empire, but now it is all clear to me." His blue body leaned forward almost insolently. "Damning the world to a slow decay, conquering and enslaving the land, using others as elaborate pawn pieces, even casting me into the abyss; that's all easy to rationalise and explain away as necessary for the greater good. But taking away her life? The one being who you might have shared eternity with? It's the one rash act of your youth that even you can't quite forgive yourself for. You feel guilty, and it's that guilt which has helped shape you into the being you are today. Her death by your hand helped forge you. It was the catalyst for your entire personality as a Vampire."

Kain opened his mouth but the words of angry denial he had half-formed seemed to die right as his tongue was on the verge of shaping them. He wanted to deny it. He wanted vehemently to deny it. But he couldn't.

"So perhaps instead of criticizing others for their lack of focus, you might do well to practise what you preach." Raziel finished, a parting, teasing remark that left Kain clenching a fist by his side.

"Why, you blue little…" He started with bared fangs.

It was only a small flicker of movement which caught his eye, the shifting of something far back down the narrow street of tombs they had traversed. Kain was not even sure what he had glimpsed, only that he could have sworn that one moment a shadow cast by a pillar of masonry had been there and the next it had not. The movement had been so slight that had his eye not glanced for an instant in that exact spot, he would have missed it completely. His sudden silence and puzzled frown caught Raziel's attention and he turned to follow Kain's line of sight.

"Kain?" He asked, looking about with equal confusion. "Kain, what is it?"

Kain remained silent for a long moment, his eyes slowly scanning the expanse of twisted, dark tombs for any further sign of movement. It was hard to see through the gloom of the falling soot, but Kain had a distinct and powerful sense of a lurking presence. But as time passed and no other movement revealed itself he pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head.

"Nothing..." He replied.

"You're certain?" Raziel asked again quickly, giving Kain a look.

"No."

The two of them stood there for a moment more before, acting on impulse, Kain pulled quickly into the side of a crypt's doorway and pressed his back firmly against an inside wall where he could not be seen from the outside.

"Quickly, through here." He said in a hushed voice. Raziel obeyed and the two of them waited there, hidden from view but able to see right down the narrow street of crypts through a narrow gap between a carved stone pillar and the doorway it was supporting.

They did not have to wait long. Sure enough, as soon as the two of them were out of sight, the shadows in amongst the gloom began to stir. Dark shapes slid from up against solid walls, oozing over firm surfaces like a spreading fungus or a cascade of slugs. Out of their mass occasional limbs formed and dissolved repeatedly. An arm here, a leg there, a head rising before sinking back down again. There were dozens of them and more, a veritable horde of black, sliding wretches. More and more of them were arriving every passing second, until the ravine they had passed through was alive with twisted, writhing things that were one with the darkness.

"I've seen this before." Raziel muttered darkly.

"As have I." Kain replied. The two of them looked at each other gravely, their eyes locked. Raziel nodded once.

Then as one they burst from their concealment and raced into the square as fast as they could run. Neither of them was stupid enough to attempt to confront so many of such an adversary, even together. Ajatar was already coming to meet them and seemed quite surprised to find them racing at her, her good wing fanning out in reflex.

"My lord?!" She asked in alarmed apprehension.

"Run!" Kain shouted at her as they raced past. He did not need to elaborate. Behind them, the gloom of darkness which had settled over the Necropolis suddenly darkened considerably. All colour seemed to fade away from the already bleached stones, everything vanishing into a perpetual and impenetrable cloud of black. That cloud was moving swiftly after them, lurching forward like the fumbling hand of a colossal giant. Ajatar took one alarmed look at that and burst into her own run, keeping up with the two of them easily and even overtaking them.

The roiling, engulfing darkness did not advance their pursuit in a solid block. It moved erratically, some gaining ground, others retreating, and never at the same pace. The shadows, those forming shapes writhed within it, as though their own forms were a part of that reaching hand. There were hundreds of them or more, scrambling over one another like a school of fish in the water. The glints from their eyes, pinprick stars of violence in an ocean of utter black, showed quite plainly just how many of them there were.

The three of them were racing up the winding stairs now toward the central pyramid, Ajatar in the lead with her faster stride carrying her on. Certainly that encroaching tidal wave of darkness had frightened her enough to grant her sufficiently enthusiastic speed. Kain was bringing up the rear now and, glancing back, he could see the shadows pausing at the foot of the stairs, their twisting shapes uncoordinated and confused.

Then a figure slowly arose from the darkness, lurching upward as though rising out of a grave. It was a lean shape outlined by swirling shadows which danced around it.. At this distance it was impossible to make out much detail but the sight of it sent a shiver down Kain's spine despite himself.

Whatever it was, it was robed in darkness, the shadows wrapping around the thing like actual clothing. The face beneath the hood was pure bone white and featureless, hollow black eyes staring up after them and even from so far away Kain could feel the malice pouring out of those dark eyes. They were like two bottomless holes from which there was no escape.  
Slowly the figure raised a hand and pointed up after them. No. Not after them. Those eyes were not for his companions. They were solely after him.

-0-

 **"Whatever ghost or apparition this was, I could feel its gaze on me and it felt like ice. That finger was a beckoning gesture, calling me, summoning me to the death I had long cheated. If this was truly Death itself coming for me, then it would find its appointment once more postponed."**

-0-

His anger spiked and, growling in defiance, he forced his body into the furred and swift lupine form, racing on all fours up the stairs with blinding speed. Easily he ran Raziel and Ajatar down and flipped them onto his back and, almost before they could grab hold of him, he set himself to a firm gallop that blurred the world around them.

"Lord Kain?!" Ajatar managed but soon the sound of her startled voice was lost in the rush of the wind all around them. Kain pushed his form as hard as he dared, the muscles of the wolf pumping hard, fueled by urgency and a surge of rebellious anger. He raced on with all the speed this form could lend him, ascending the stairs dozens of steps at a time. The sight of those terrible black eyes had sunk deep into his mind and the memory of it spurred him on, driving him to run faster and faster. He just had to put as much distance between himself and those eyes as he could.

When they finally reached the top and the vaulted doorway leading into the pyramid, Kain's momentum was so quick it carried them inside head over heels for a good twenty feet before he was able to skid to a stop. His lupine form flipped up in the air before landing with a mad scrabble upon the stone floor. Raziel was faster, leaping from Kain's back to the doorway. The vaulted gateway and its iron grating were wide open to the elements. Grasping it firmly with his talons, the blue wraith yanked it down hard. It obeyed instantly, coming down to the floor and activating a mechanism that drew the large iron doors shut over it, sealing them in with a loud crash.

"This will not hold them off for very long." Raziel said, turning back to them, his expression grim. The light inside this den was pale, enough to see by for now but it was swiftly growing darker.

Kain rose back up to his feet, dusting himself off as he re-assumed his regular form. He stood there silently, his back to them to conceal his eyes, intense with a mixture of emotions. There was anger there, for certain. Resentment. Anxiety. And, of course, that potent and most odious of sensations; Fear. It sat there in his stomach, the cold sensation rising up his spine as the memory of those bottomless eyes haunted him. In those eyes he could feel every moment of time he had claimed in his Vampiric immortality being reclaimed, his soul sent into the nothingness of death where he by rights belonged.

"Kain!" Raziel said firmly. Kain drew in a breath and firmly set his face into a more authoritative expression, erecting as strong a wall as he could in his mind around the memory of those eyes.

"Seems the Divus aren't going to let us get away quite so easily." He said, drawing the Reaver and holding its hilt so tight his knuckles stood out.

"Lord Kain, your orders?" Ajatar asked, her own expression revealing that she was just as shaken as he was, although he knew for different reasons. But she stood there ready to accept her duty. The sight was inspiring and helped to bolster his own bulwark against the anxiety. He had lambasted her for succumbing to her emotions, and yet now she was forcing them aside to do her duty while he was the one struggling. Wryly he admitted to himself that Raziel had been right to point out his hypocrisy on this particular issue.

Looking squarely at her and straightening his shoulders, Kain declared; "We fight."


	9. The wings of Destruction

-0-

-0-

-0-

The first sign that the assault had begun was the combination of two things that happened at once. First the ambient light began to fade with no obvious cause, as though a blanket were being slipped over them and shrouding them in shadow. Second was the muffling of sounds to the barest whisper of noise. Each step they took sounded fainter and fainter until soon they traveled in growing blackness and unnatural silence. The air seemed alive with a bubbling, hostile presence, and the feeling of being watched as so acute it was as though they were being studied by thousands of eyes all at once.

The three of them had barely made it to the large central chamber of the pyramid before the darkness all about them was writhing with shapes which oozed out of the shadows. The three of them stood back to back, each with a weapon drawn. Kain held the Reaver before him, one hand free to cast a bolt of arcane force if necessary. Raziel crouched low, the wraith blade flickering on his right hand and his shield spinning its own crackling energy about on his left. Ajatar held in one hand her only good short sword, and in the other was the golden axe of the fallen Ansu.

All around them figures were rising one by one from the shadows. Not a one of them was the same as the other. They were all so varied. Some were short, others were tall. Some were stout, others very thin. Many had distinct curves which could have indicated femininity. All these features were very crude, like they were only being shown in a very basic way. Their hands had no fingers, rather long claws which trailed clouds of black vapor, and their eyes were a flickering violet. They were soon enough surrounded by a circling band of purple stars winking in the shadows.

-0-

 **"These foul beings, manifest from the darkness itself, were no physical creatures. I knew not what arcane process gave animation to these abominations, only that they were entities that felt neither pain nor remorse. They would come with claws like ice until the prey they sought was rent asunder."**

-0-

There was a pause of perhaps a handful of seconds. Then the shadows came at them in a rush. Not the uniform, rigid, disciplined advance of the Divus Legionnaires, but a swarming, silent stampede of grasping, icy claws. Kain did not wait to meet their charge but rather ran to confront it head-on, swinging the serpentine Reaver blade around him and putting his weight into the attack. The Reaver screamed as it was swung and met with body against body in the path of its arc, passing through them as though they were naught but air.

These shades were creatures without much in the way of physical substance, their bodies more like a thick mist or fog, but they were not totally immune to attacks. Each time the Reaver swung through their midst, Kain could feel the tug and pull of something along the blade. Whatever held them together, barely visible and mostly intangible, could only take so much before it gave way. Jamming the Reaver into the chest of one of them as it lunged at him from behind, he dragged the blade up the torso and through the head. With a deep-toned cry, the creature burst apart into a quickly fading vapor of black smoke.

Ajatar swung the golden axe of her fallen subordinate about, easily wielding it one-handed, slamming its blade into the head of one shade as it came rushing at her. The blow barely fazed the creature, passing through with almost no resistance before its claws raked her side, blood spurting free and splattering on the floor. She let out a cry and flapped her good wing, propelling herself backwards and out of reach of its grasping arms.

"Strike at the chest!" Raziel called to her, rolling into a ball and sliding beneath two reaching claws. Springing back to his feet, the blue wraith slammed his ethereal sword into his assailant's torso, the flickering tip emerging out its back. With a screech the creature popped like a bubble. Before he could run to anyone else's aid another came at him and he was forced to block the lunge of its claws with his shield.

Her face set with both pain and alarm, Ajatar dodged to the left to avoid a slash before she rebounded. Taking Raziel's advice, she went straight for the creature's chest, slicing it across its midsection with her short sword before slamming the axe blade so deep that she cut the thing in half before it burst into smoke. Using the momentum of the swing to carry her on, she ducked under the next attack before bringing the axe straight up and cutting the nearest shade in half from crotch to head in one enraged swing.

"Get away from me!" She screamed as the shades closed in around her, her voice hoarse, shrill, and filled with panic.

Her foot rose and Kain instantly recognised the gesture, having seen it often enough before. Quickly he dove out of the way. With a loud boom she slammed her foot down sharply on the ground and Kain knew she only did that when calling upon the element of Earth. The floor beneath their feet cracked like an egg and buckled up, shards of rubble flying out in all directions. Raziel had to throw up his shield to protect himself from the amount of projectiles suddenly ricocheting through the air.

Many of the shades were not so fortunate, dozens of them bursting into smoke from the rubble embedded in their foggy forms. Many others tumbled down into the massive holes her panicked response had opened up in the floor. The remaining creatures lunged for her again, undeterred by the vicious attack or the loss of so many of their allies. But this time Kain was there to meet them, the Reaver screeching and screaming as it split the air and caught them across the midsection to cut them in half.

"More are coming!" Raziel called out, and indeed there were. Rising from the shadows, more and more malformed shapes were pouring forth. It was as though for every shade they cut down, the darkness birthed another three. If that level of reinforcement kept up then they would be literally drowned in shadows.

"Come!" Kain called out, grabbing Ajatar by the wrist and yanking her away from the oncoming creatures. With her in his grasp he leapt down through one of the holes she had opened up, dropping into the chamber below. Raziel was a moment after them, sending a bolt of telekinetic force behind him to smash a shade which tried to follow directly in its chest.

Kain plummeted down at least a good hundred feet before he came to a wooden joist, landing upon it with a shuddering impact that caused the thing to sway and buckle. He did not wait for it to detach completely and, with Ajatar in hand, vaulted off once more, jumping from the cracking support to another beam. Then another and another, dropping down farther into the dark abyss below each time.

When he ran out of joists he aimed them at his only other alternative, which was a stone ledge that jutted out at a deeply slanted angle. He had hoped that he might be able to counter the steepness by using his free hand to latch onto the wall. However, as he sank his talons into the stone it came away in his grip, crumbling and brittle. His feet skidded wildly as he sought to keep his balance but in the end all he could do was throw himself from the ledge in a controlled leap, hoping to find something to break his fall before the drop became lethal.

That came an anti-climactic moment later as his feet hit firmly onto solid ground less than a few feet away, hidden in the darkness. Braced for a heavy impact and feeling quite foolish about it, Kain let Ajatar go and turned his head to look up at the drop they had tumbled down. The opened floor of the chamber above was all but invisible in the darkness, highlighted only by the swirling purple lights staring down at them. The shades were relentless but the shaft they had leapt down, a vertical drop of several hundred feet, was detering them for now. That advantage, however, would not last very long. They would find some means of slipping down the sides of those walls and be on them again soon enough.

All about them at the bottom of this shaft was a thick haze, a red, noxious miasma that Kain knew the scent of immediately. It was the all too familiar smell of blood. So much blood that the air down here was thick with particles of iron that turned it vaguely red, a testament to the sheer amount of death which had taken place in this house of pain.

"I.. I'm sorry, my lord…" Ajatar huffed, running a hand over her face. Her voice was thick with telltale adrenaline. "I let emotion get the better of me again." The hand she was holding up was shaking and her eyes were still quite wide.

"Under the circumstances, I'll overlook the slip." Kain muttered, watching as overhead, Raziel was gliding down toward them in a more controlled manner, grasping his ruined wings to slow his descent.

"I… I have never seen such...horrors!" Ajatar admitted, leaning against a wall for support, the golden axe of Ansu hanging in her free hand.

"Do they truly unnerve you so?" Kain asked, tilting his head. "I would have thought one such as you would be used to facing creatures of nightmare. Or is there something you have not told me?" She swallowed hard and looked shamefaced, her eyes downcast as if she did not wish to speak. Finally she looked back up with pursed lips.

"As a fledgling, I… we were all kept hidden away in the darkness of the underground Rookery. For most this cures them of their fear of such...basic things as a lack of sufficient light." She took a breath before admitting; "It...did not for me."

Kain could not help but smile.

"Well, well, the seemingly fearless Grandmaster of the Serioli Order is afraid of the dark." He mused. Her returning glare, however, was defiant and contrary.

"No, not the dark!" She insisted quite firmly. Seeming to forget her place, she leaned forward with her good wing spreading out wide. "The dark is just an absence of light. No, I could not stand what lurked within the darkness. To know an enemy was there and that I could not see them terrified me." Her head turned to look back up and she shuddered, her wings rustling. "And these...these things are the ultimate expression of that! The darkness itself as an enemy!"

"Interesting interpretation." Kain muttered in thought as Raziel dropped down to the floor with a soft thud, summoning the wraith blade to illuminate the bottom of the shaft. A cracked and broken stone seal against the nearby wall bore the Melchahim sigil. Rubble lay all around, collapsed pillars, more old wooden joists, and stacked piles of shattered mosaic pieces. They must have been laying here for some time, as a thin layer of red dust covered everything, giving the entire area an almost alien appearance. Several bleached, old skeletons lay heaped about in scattered pieces, most of them Human, but some bore the telltale fangs and claws of the Vampire.

"What are they?!" Ajatar asked, still staring up at the milling, glistening purple eyes which for now were kept from attacking.

"They have no name." Raziel said with a shake of his head, holding the ghostly sword up like a common torch. "They are creatures of energy alone, held together by intangible bubbles of force. They have no soul of their own, only fragments they have ensnared from elsewhere."

"You've seen them before?" Ajatar was still quite baffled and alarmed.

"Many times." The blue wraith assured her, then turned, gesturing for them to follow with his free hand. "Come, we ought keep moving while we have the advantage."

He led them deeper into the chambers of the pyramid, and as Kain knew where they were going, he began to cobble a rough plan together. It was the only place within this lair of pain which might offer them a defensive advantage, but if necessary could be pulled down around their pursuing enemies. In order to escape such a last ditch effort, Kain would be required to employ a translocation spell. That would alert the Divus to their location for certain, but there would be no alternative. He hoped it would not come to that.

"I know not how, but those creatures are thralls to the God of the Wheel." Raziel was saying as he led them down a sloping passageway, the red mist in the air growing thicker the farther they progressed. "They obey his every whim. In fact, 'thrall' may be the wrong word, as they have no will of their own to supplant. Only his mind animates their bodies."

"How many does he have at his command?" Ajatar asked in a sickly voice, not looking around.

"I do not think the concept of numbers applies to those things anymore, Ajatar." Raziel replied with a grim frown. "My former master has devoured countless millions of souls over the eons. Cast off fragments from those feasts can easily be harvested to make more of them. There are simply as many as is needed."

Kain thought about that. If what he had learned was true, the Elder had arrived on Nosgoth during the primeval age when the world was ruled by the Dragons. Ever since he had been feasting on the life of this world, slowly sucking it dry. The Pillars had held him back and spared the world the worst of his gluttony, as per Ba'al Zebur's design, but the sheer amount of souls he must have devoured before and since was mind-boggling. Entire generations of Men and Vampires killing each other over and over, for no other reason than to be placed on an elaborate thought still made him shiver in cold anger and he had to suppress it.

"Do they have weaknesses? If they are composed of darkness, then surely some intense light can…" Ajatar began but Raziel cut her off.

"Unfortunately it's not that simple." He said with a small bit of wry amusement. "These beings can take on the elements they interact with, absorb them into their forms. What we faced out there were, for the moment, merely shades of the dark. But I have faced them when they were comprised of fire, water, or even light itself. We're lucky you didn't invigorate them with your own attacks."

Ajatar's face blanched at that.

"They are like Vampires for elemental energy." Raziel went on. "If we cannot employ the power of the elements against them, that puts us at a distinct disadvantage."

The Grandmaster of the Serioli shook her head, frowning as she tried to absorb what she was being told. Despite everything that had happened to her so far, Kain supposed that the concepts surrounding the false god and his methods was still quite confusing. He wondered how much of it she even believed. Probably only what she could determine with her own eyes. And she was the most loyal ally he had. What this said for the others of their fragile alliance, he did not want to think.

"I don't understand…" She confessed, rubbing her temples with one hand. "If this...this God can summon such a seemingly limitless army out of the guts of hell, what use has he for the Divus… Or any other earthly force?"

Kain drew in a breath and let it out in a sigh.

"Because it's not about domination by force, Ajatar. It never was." He said, and saw her head turning to look at him. "We only face the Divus as a military adversary now because we forced their hand. We have proven to be a credible threat to them at a crucial moment in their plans. They assault us because we have left them with no other option." Raziel nodded at that, turning back himself with the wraith blade held up.

"My former master wants converts, not slaves. Beings to fall down before him in abject and total surrender. He wants generations of mortals to love him, obey, cherish, and praise him." He raised a talon to emphasis his words with a few sharp gestures. "I am sure you've heard God referred to as a 'shepherd' before, yes? A kindly guardian tending his flock? The problem with that analogy most seem to overlook is that the shepherd eventually plans to eat his sheep."

"And sheep would hardly walk into the abattoir as blissfully unaware animals if they were being herded along by a series of monsters." Kain continued sagely. "The Divus provide him with a command structure. A driving force to keep his faithful in line and a military power that transcended the restrictions of time. But most importantly it gave him a handsome face through which to speak."

A sick little smile spread slowly over his lips. "But now we have pushed him to throw caution to the wind. We've proven such an irritant, such a thorn in his side, that he sends everything he has after us. Frankly, I'm flattered."

"Your hand is shaking. You hardly seem flattered to me." Raziel observed. Kain glanced down quickly. Sure enough, by his side he could see that his hand was twitching. He held it up before him as though marveling at it, a confused expression on his face. It was then he took note of the tight sensation which had developed in the pit of his stomach, a knot of anxiety which had been lingering in him ever since they had fled into the pyramid.

Those dark eyes still haunted him, the memory of their endless, bottomless void lingering ominously. He seemed to be seeing them everywhere he looked. Just what was that creature and how did it exert such an emotional hold on him?

"Merely excitement, Raziel." He said with a forceful tone full of a vitality that he was far from feeling. Ajatar might have been convinced, but Raziel's flat expression spoke volumes.

At the bottom of the tilted shaft, the passageway opened up into a large, circular chamber with a high, domed ceiling. The clan symbol for the Melchahim was engraved as base relief at regular intervals all around, some in much better condition than others. A few tattered banners hung here and there, all soiled and threadbare. The red, bloody haze was thickest here, obscuring anything beyond a few feet away and the air stank of copper and rotten meat, a cloying taste which filled the mouth.

Set into the centre of the room was a tall ring of iron, a open-topped cage coated with many layers of dried, flaking blood. The floor within that circle was permanently stained red, blood having sunk into the stone to forever color it the brightest crimson. High above, half concealed in the dim light, were the multitude of gleaming, teeth-like blades of a flat, circular grinder on the end of a long metal pillar. It was from there that the strongest, most disgusting smells came. That machine had seen a long use of efficient dismemberment of large quantities of fresh, bloody meat.

-0-

 **"Melchiah's chamber, the room where the youngest of my sons had dwelt after his increasing mutations left him deformed and hideous to behold. Too ashamed to be seen, he had in the end grown so large and malformed he had needed a specially built floor to bring him up out of his lair again. He had been the last of the six Vampires raised by me. And the first to fall to Raziel's campaign of vengeance."**

-0-

"This…this place is sickening!" Ajatar spat, one hand to her mouth at the stink, her expression full of dismay and disgust. Her eyes were wildly flickering back and forth to take in all the gory details of this dark place. "Just how many have died down here?!"

"Three too few." The voice was an insidious whisper from out of the darkness. A shadow detached itself from the ceiling above and dropped down towards them, a pair of wings snapping open like a striking bird of prey.

"Look out!" Kain bellowed and not a fraction of a second too soon. Raziel dove forward instinctively, ducking into a roll to push himself out of the way. Ajatar sprang backwards, flapping her good wing to propel her body. The shadow came down hard and Kain had a momentary impression of a clenched fist before the impact came, a blow which caused the ground all about to crack and buckle. The red haze in the air shuddered as a shockwave passed through it.

The assailant slowly straightened and Kain felt himself turn pale at the sight of it, now from less than several feet away. Those eyes again. Those terrible, deep, dark, bottomless eyes. Staring at him, commanding him to accept the inevitable. His own death, forestalled for so many years, was calling to him with awful finality. His nostrils flared wide in response, resentful and instinctive anger suddenly boiling through his veins.

"So you stalk me, do you, apparition!? I will not fear you!" He called out defiantly, the Reaver suddenly in his hands. The animal compulsion to either flee or stand and fight was a strong one and, faced with such a display, Kain's entire being demanded that he fight. He was moving forward before he had even made the conscious decision to do so, charging with sword raised into the cloak of darkness surrounding the figure.

"Begone!" He cried and swung the Reaver with all the strength he could muster directly into its body. There was a solid thunk and an intense vibration ran down the sword. Kain looked up in stunned amazement at the sight of a shadowy hand holding the sword at bay, catching it between a set of Vampiric talons.

"What?! What manner of…" He started but the blow cut him off. Lightning fast, it lashed out and struck him full in the face and it was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most powerful punch Kain had ever taken. His vision went black, the world blotted out completely and when it cleared once more he was lying on his back all the way across the chamber with the Reaver clattering on the floor by his side. His head throbbed with the sound of a dozen cathedral bells all ringing at once.

Raziel flourished the wraith blade, maintaining a prudent distance, sidestepping slowly around the figure which for the moment was just standing there. Its form was hidden behind a cloak of pure, writhing darkness, like a carpet of black snakes. Flickering violet eyes in amongst the shifting shadows showed this obscuring garment was made of actual shades, all clasped tightly to a physical presence. Only those terrible, deep eyes in the middle of an almost featureless white face gazed out.

Slowly the figure raised a hand and then made a sharp, dismissive gesture. Instantly the shades covering its form vanished, dispersing like a cloud of evaporation. The darkness cleared and slowly the real form beneath the obscuring shadows made itself known, especially as a large pair of matted, feathered wings spread out to fan the rest of the dark mists away.

Their attacker had the general form of an Ancient Vampire, a male with feathered wings, hands and feet bearing talons. But the skin was pale, almost bleached white with an unnerving red tinge. Then it became clear that the skin had a faint but sickening translucence and they could all see the flesh beneath, riddled with black veins. Muscle, sinew and bones all writhed beneath the surface, disgustingly visible. The wings themselves were still dark like those of an Ancient Vampire, but each feather had faded to white around the outer edge, giving them the look of wings comprised of sharpened blades.

The hair on the skull was long but was tied back by a wrap of cloth into a top knot. Across his waist he wore the tattered remains of what once had been a white toga, the kind the Divus wore, or at least had worn while in their glory in Fanum-Divus. Black leather wrappings were strapped across his midsection and forearms, covering him up to the elbows and up to the chest. Over the talons of his hands and feet were silvery gauntlets, each plate engraved with an obscure arcane symbol.

The face was the worst part of that horrible visage, for the skull was visible beneath that pale, semi-translucent skin, teeth and fangs showing even through closed lips. The eyeballs were completely black and the darkness of the socket beyond made them appear even wider than normal. Two black streaks, very similar to the markings on Raziel's own face, ran from those eyes and down his cheeks to meet with each corner of his lips.

The unveiling of the reality behind the monstrous facade did little to quiet Kain's anxiety and apprehension regarding those terrible eyes, and the awful sensation of finality when gazing at them.

"My name is Abaddon. I am the Angel of Destruction." The figure said, his voice intense as he said each word but with almost none of the right inflections or proper cadence. It was as though speaking were a foreign thing and he was pronouncing everything strangely, emphasis placed on many of the wrong words in the sentence.

Kain grunted and hauled himself back to his feet, his head still ringing.

"Never heard of you." He growled, his arm trembling slightly as he held the Reaver up before him.

"Yes, you have." This creature that called itself Abaddon said contarily, sweeping his black gaze across them all. His hands were raised in front of him, talons uncurling and curling into fists over and over with the leather beneath his gauntlets creaking loudly each time. "My existence is a maddening blend of pain and pleasure. I can no longer distinguish between sensations. Even my memories are a tangled jumble so interwoven that past and present flow into one another." Those horrifying, pit-like eyes gazed past the talons to stare with unnatural focus upon them.

"But I remember you. Kain, Raziel. I remember you all so vividly." That intense voice changed, becoming more animated with greater inflection. That face with the skull just visible beyond the skin twisted with the birth of emotion. And that emotion was an easily identifiable boiling rage. "And I feel, dwelling inside me, a strong desire. A desire to grant unto you pain and suffering the likes of which you cannot imagine. I believe the time has finally come to indulge that desire."

"You have nothing to teach me about pain." Raziel replied with scorn, unimpressed. The blue wraith moved, shifting his body, prepared to lunge forward. But before he could do so, Abaddon was on him. This new enemy was swift, fast beyond even the enhanced reactions of a Vampire. His fist came down and it was only Raziel's own swift reflexes that saved him, throwing up his left arm and deploying his field. That fist smashed again and again with devastating force into the flickering circle of light, each blow causing the red haze in the air to ripple like the surface of water. Raziel held firm, trembling each time the barrier was beaten, but remaining steadfast.

"You will have to do better than…" He began harshly but was cut short when Abaddon swung low with acrobatic speed and grace which defied belief and knocked his legs out from under him with a powerful swing of one foot. Raziel was sent tumbling down and before he could even strike the floor, his arm was seized. Abaddon then swiftly reversed and swung Raziel around like a rag doll directly into Ajatar, who had been attempting to rush their assailant from behind with her good short sword.

The blow was powerful and there was the distinct, hair-raising sound of snapping bone. A cry from the Serioli Grandmaster was cut short and reduced to a muffled gargle as she and the blue wraith slammed back into the far wall with a crunch, the wall giving way and breaking apart in a cloud of dust. Abaddon turned swiftly, ready to confront Kain as the Vampire charged at him with the Reaver swinging wide.

He did not aim at Abaddon directly this time, anticipating their enemy's great speed and instead attacked with more precision. He swung at the head, forcing Abaddon to dodge by leaning backwards. Kain took a step forward, arching his body to bring the serpentine sword up, threatening to cut Abaddon from his crotch on upwards. Once more their enemy evaded, spreading his wings to push himself back. And that was the opening Kain had been waiting for.

Putting all the strength he could muster into it, Kain took the hilt of the Reaver in both hands and lunged forward. He thrust the sword directly at Abaddon's chest, aiming to hit him straight in the heart in that one moment where his vision would be obscured by the sweep of his wings. The sword plunged in, coming within mere inches of its tip piercing Abaddon's skin.

Suddenly a pair of dark arms snapped up out of the shadows, a shade manifesting out of nowhere. It grasped Kain by the arms, hauling him back with the strength of its grip alone. While this was not enough to stop Kain, it slowed his momentum. The sword drew back from that crucial moment and Abaddon escaped without so much as a mark on him.

Before Kain could adapt or even free himself from the grip of the shade holding him, Abaddon flew directly at him. The first punch struck him in the belly and the wind was forced out of his lungs. The second punch impacted his side, and may as well have been a battering ram. Kain felt his ribs crack. The third and final blow was an uppercut, swinging down and then sharply up to connect with his jaw. The force of the blow was enough to rocket Kain off his feet, arching him high overhead before he slammed to the ground.

Dazed, coughing blood onto his lips, Kain stumbled onto all fours. His vision swam ominously as he tried to right himself, his battered body calling on his already overtaxed reserves of strength to try to repair itself. Grunting in pain, he struggled back to his feet as Abaddon approached, his pace slow. He did not seem in any great hurry to end this confrontation. And why should he, Kain wondered. He was clearly winning.

"What manner of Divus are you?" The Vampire demanded, coughing once more before wiping the blood from his lips with his wrist. Abaddon paused a moment.

"Divus?" He repeated, his oddly inflectioned voice sounding quite puzzled. His head tilted to one side quizzically before he shook it in dismissal. "I am beyond the Divus. They are each but small mortals given a spec of divine light upon which to sustain themselves. They hold a mere candle flame and call it a sun."

He raised one hand and snapped his talons. Suddenly, all about him, shades were manifesting. Dozens at a time, called to his side as a horde. They appeared out of every conceivable shadow, tearing their way up even out of small patches of shade. Within moments their enemy was surrounded by a wall of dark mist and glittering purple eyes, a personal army.

"I am Abaddon." He declared firmly. "I am the sun."


	10. Torn asunder in darkness

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-0-

This time when the tide of dark beings rose up it was not in a disorganised melee of grasping, icy claws, but rather a disciplined, united advance of a line of them pressing forward with the rest following behind. This was not the approach of some regimented army either, more a swelling mass like an oncoming tsunami as it raced toward the shore. But Kain did not move. His stance set, his face a mask of determination, and with sword in hand, he became the rock that wave broke upon.

As the dark horde descended upon him he did not deflect or dodge, but instead met it head-on, swinging the Reaver into the mass of shades as hard as he could. The serpentine blade sank through their ranks, slicing and carving their misty bodies apart with ease, a single swing sending half a dozen into oblivion. Others closed in around him, trying to take him either side at once, but Kain kept his momentum going and spun around completely, turning the arc of the Reaver into a whirlwind of force which split another wide swath of his attackers in two.

Yet more advanced, claws of frigid darkness swiping at him and coming close to cleaving his skin. Kain slid back out of range before propelling himself forward, impaling his attacker directly through the chest. The second the shade evaporated he let his own body fade into mist to avoid the swiping claws coming in from all around him before reforming beyond their reach. Then with Reaver in hand he lashed back with the sword once more.

The shades were not simply attacking Kain. A great many of them had Raziel and Ajatar backed up against the far wall of the gruesome chamber, fending off the advancing wave of darkness with axe and wraith blade. Their backs pressed together, they were defending themselves as best they could, frequently having to switch positions in order to ward off a more aggressive assault from one side or another. Flares of fire shot forth from Ajatar's hands as she unleashed elemental force in her defense, and sparks of eldritch energy rained from both Raziel's wraith blade and shield as he feinted and parried.

Abaddon had not moved. He stood there surrounded by the dark shades like they were his personal bodyguards, his arms folded across his chest and the two dark pits he had for eyes gazing out, watching the melee unfold like a distant general observing the battle unfold for his troops on a faroff warfront.

"Though it might not seem the case, these creatures are not mindless. Rather they have too much mind as opposed to not enough." Their strange enemy remarked softly, the dark, dead voids in his face flickering back and forth, watching each of them struggle in turn. "Every one of these beings consists of so many fragments of different conflicting souls that in the composite an individual is a community in and of themselves."

A sick little smile creased his face, the teeth parting behind vaguely translucent lips. Idly he raised a hand and waved it back and forth through the head of the shade nearest to him. The creature flinched slightly but did not pull away. It remained in place as that hand moved to and fro, its form parting to allow its passage like a thin mist.

"The mind formed by the collection of such constantly warring soul fragments is so chaotic, so unbalanced that they welcome any sort of overriding outside intelligence which can grant them stability and unified purpose." That hand then paused inside the head, lingering there, the tips of the talons protruding through the face.

"They're grateful to the Master for his tyranny." Abaddon went on, tilting his head to the side in a quizzical sort of way, pausing for a moment as though studying the shade like a scholar would an object of particular interest. Then his fist clenched. The shade evaporated instantly, dispersing into nothing. Abaddon held up his hand and contained in his grip was a luminescent, incomplete globule of matter which flickered about randomly and wildly. "And to me for mine."

Kain leapt up high as several of the creatures lunged for him at once, front and back. Arching head over heels, he brought the Reaver about, sharply cutting one of them in half and slicing a second diagonally across the chest. Then, as he descended, he brought the Reaver down hard on a third in the execution of the Infernal Sundering technique, slicing the misty creature from head to toe.

As he turned to confront another, however, Abaddon made his move. Gathering the essence of the shade he had crushed in his talons, he threw his hand forward and released it as a projectile of twisting, churning, chaotic light. Kain raised his hand, instinctively throwing up whatever barrier of eldritch force he could to protect himself, but it broke through his defenses like shattering a pane of glass, striking him full in the face.

Everything turned white for a moment, sound reduced to a single high-pitched, unending tone. When vision returned and muffled sounds began to intrude upon his dazed awareness, Kain found himself laying on his back on the ground. He was within the ring of carnage at the center of the chamber, the deadly circular grinding mechanism poised high above him.

"Kain, get up!" Raziel shouted, sliding back to try to reach him only to find his path blocked by a trio of clawed shadows.

Feebly Kain tried to rise, but as soon as he hoisted himself up onto his knees his legs gave out and he collapsed onto all fours, his stomach churning. His equilibrium was lost in a haze of nausea and swimming vision. He felt as though all the energy that sustained him had been bled out of his body, ached like he had not fed for days. Teeth gritted, he struggled, forcing himself up.

Suddenly Abaddon was on him, a foot lashing down and pinning the stunned Vampire to the floor again. The impact knocked Kain back into another whirlwind of swirled sounds and images.

"Such a fine thing it is to grant the mercy of subjugation unto those in need." Kain could just make out their enemy's words as he lingered over him, foot heavy on his shoulder. "I had never realised before just what a blessing it truly was. Indeed it is the most glorious thing in the world, to grand vision, clarity, and purpose to those of lesser mind." Those dark pits gazed down at him, inviting him, calling him to a death which was catching up to him. "Don't you agree, Emperor of Nosgoth?"

"For an Angel of Destruction you certainly run your mouth!" Kain grunted, one hand trying to push the foot off of him as his strength failed him.

"My voice is the last thing you will ever hear. Do not be so quick to silence me." Abaddon remarked and slowly his hand raised, a second twisting mass of energy gathering between his talons and forming a struggling orb.

There was a sudden whistling sound, a screeching as the air parted in protest of an intruder. Abaddon turned sharply but not quick enough to avoid being struck by a barrage of rocks and debris, bombarding him like a hailstorm. Their enemy was forced to back off, bringing his wings around to shield himself from the onslaught. Kain rolled onto his side to get away, catching sight of Ajatar as she advanced.

Her stance was set wide, her feet scraping the floor of the chamber. As she did, she called upon the elemental power of earth to gather more debris, her footsteps spreading cracks across the surface. Her hands clasped together and then cupped themselves before her face, her expression one of outrage and indignation. Her eyes were cold, yet burning with anger.

"Every day of my entire life I have had to struggle against those who would stop at nothing to see me dead!" She spat and spun about, bringing her leg up and around in a sharp arc which sent more and more debris hurtling Abaddon's way.

Behind her Raziel was fending off the shades, thrusting his shield out before him and calling upon its own energies to blaze with elemental force. For the moment the shades were struggling to get past it. Their unity was gone and they seemed to have returned to being a mass of chaotic fury. It appeared that while distracted Abbadon could not direct them as efficiently. Hurriedly Kain tried to right himself, forcing himself to get back to his feet despite the swimming head and blurred vision.

"I don't care who you think you are, you're just another in a long line of enemies that have gotten in my way!" Ajatar cried in a hoarse, outraged voice and in one fluid motion she changed her stance. Her body thrust forward, left arm extended. Along the length of her arm an icicle formed, condensed from the moisture in the air as she called upon the power of water. As soon as it was long enough she took hold of it like a spear and hurled it forward. His wings raised to protect himself, Abaddon did not see it coming and with a loud crunch the icicle punched through his abdomen. Abaddon lurched, doubling over at the sudden impact. Kain could not help but grimace as he could see the ice stuck right through that partly translucent body.

Ajatar was not finished, however. With a swift flurry of her arms she adopted a third stance, changing her attack. Her talons flicked out before her and she unleashed the elemental power of air, calling upon the devastating force of lightning. With a crash that shook the entire chamber it connected instantly with the tip of the protruding icicle and flooded Abaddon's body with light. Their enemy's form writhed about as the energy tore through him, fixing him in place. Small parts of him began to explode, beams of light pouring out of the torn wounds.

Kain acted instantly. Turning quickly he caught sight of the switch he knew was on the far wall, the large handle which operated the chamber's gruesome mechanism. Raising his hand to gesture, he seized control of it with his telekinesis and forced it to respond. The mechanism protested loudly, having not been used in some time, but firmly he made it work. Unseen gears churned, clunking and screeching. High above, the great saw-toothed grinder was beginning to turn.

Abaddon was rooted to the spot by Ajatar's attack, arms spread out wide and light pouring out from the tips of his talons. He was struggling, however, forcing himself to move. Ajatar simply poured more and more energy into his body, trying to drown him in destructive force, her face angrily set. Kain knew better than to let the stalemate continue. Firmly he wrapped one arm about her waist and leapt backwards, up and out of the cage-like ring.

"Keep him there!" He barked at her. Despite being so startled by his actions, she obeyed. Ajatar's hands lashed out, spreading wide as she called on yet another element. A ring of intense flame erupted from the ground around Abaddon, forcing him to recoil even as he freed himself from electrical paralysis.

In that instant, the grinder came down. It descended impeccably, driven with industrial force directly on top of Abaddon. The curtain of flames did not allow Kain to see much detail but the sounds were sickening enough. Then, at one sudden motion there was a flash of light, like an exploding ember on a hearth. Then Abaddon was simply gone. No body, no remains, not so much as any splattered residue.

All about them the shades vanished, evaporating into thin air enmass. One moment they were surrounded by a horde of darkness, an army of shadow creatures. Then they were alone. The three of them were left standing there bewildered, the only sign of battle the wounds inflicted upon them and the damage done to the chamber itself. The grinder scraped the floor of the ring of carnage for a few ear-grating seconds before it began to slowly rise back up again, its teeth gently spinning about.

Raziel approached aprehensively, ducking to examine the grinder as it slowly ascended.

"Did we kill him?" Ajatar asked, looking suddenly very worn out.

"I...don't know." Raziel admitted, his eyebrows knit in a puzzled expression. "He just disappeared."

Kain gazed up, watching the grinder rise back up to its normal position. He wanted to believe they had won. He had, after all, witnessed their enemy crushed beneath Melchiah's cruel device, the same which had ironically taken his own life. But those deep black eyes still taunted the back of his mind.

"Perhaps, then, he was nothing but talk." Kain began, reaching for the sword which lay off to one side.

"I am many things." A sudden echoing voice said, coming from nowhere. "But mere talk is not one of them." Instantly Kain had the Reaver in his hands and was jerking his head this way and that trying to find the source of that voice.

"What in hell?!" Raziel demanded, looking around sharply.

There was a sudden, second flash, this one brighter than the first, like the rising of the sun over the edge of the world at dawn. Before them dust was gathering, swirling about itself as though awoken by new and powerful purpose. More and more matter and substance was being wrenched from all around, torn free and pulled together, galvanised and forced into a new form. Directly before their eyes, the body of Abaddon rebuilt itself. Bit by bit his form recombined and reconstituted, becoming whole in a matter of a single moment.

Then with a flurry, his wings spreading, Abaddon was standing there once more. His deep, pit-like eyes locked onto them.

"How … is that possible?!" Ajatar hissed, staring with wide, disbelieving eyes and her mouth agape. Raziel wore a no less stunned expression, his far more expressive eyes bulged wide.

"You gathered matter to rebuild your physical form." He breathed, sliding back a pace in startlement. "You're like me!"

Kain's knowledge of exactly how Raziel's unique existence functioned was not as extensive as perhaps he might like. But if Raziel thought that this was indeed the same as how his own body functioned, then this was cause for massive concern. Grimly Kain's grip on the Reaver tightened.

"No, Raziel. I am what you were supposed to be." Abaddon corrected him with a cold, implacable voice, flapping his wings either side of himself. "I am you done right!"

Kain did not make the mistake of waiting for their enemy to attack. He lunged forward first, swinging the Reaver at him in a flurry of movements which was the Cadaverous Laceration technique. Not so much as one blow connected. Abbadon burst into a speed which defied all explanation, rocketing forward so fast he was a simple white blur. He did not attack Kain, however, but shot past him, his entire body spinning.

With an acrobatic skill which left him a swirling streak of motion, their enemy landed his attack directly into Ajatar's unprotected head. The roundhouse kick connected with a terrible crack that echoed through the chamber, slamming her face-first into the floor. There she lay, still and silent. She did not try to rise again.

"Ajatar!" Kain cried, racing forward, throwing out his hand to fire several condensed bolts of telekinetic force at their enemy. Abaddon batted each bolt aside with one hand and easily ducked under the swing of the serpentine sword swung at him. Kain moved to bring the Reaver down, to impale it through Abaddon's head but before he could their enemy struck again.

A punch smashed into his shoulder, then another into his side, then a third into his neck. A rapid succession of powerful and precise blows, each one adding to the pain of the others until Kain's already overtaxed and tired body finally gave out and he was slammed back into a wall as one final blow smashed across his chin. In that rapid series of attacks was such leashed fury, and Kain was finally exposed to the terrifying truth of this altercation.

Abaddon had been holding back. He had allowed them to gain ground against him because he had simply been playing with them.

Raziel was coming around toward them, shield humming on one arm and sword sparking on the other. Abaddon half turned to see his advance before shooting across the distance between himself and the blue wraith in the blink of an eye. Raziel went to raise his shield to protect himself but the motion was simply too slow. Abaddon slapped the arm aside and seized Raziel by the throat with his free hand.

In one powerful motion he yanked the blue wraith from his feet and then slammed him into the ground, pinning him there. Both unearthly sword and shield went out with a flash. Raziel let out a cry of pain, struggling to free himself.

"You have an excess of soul about you." Their enemy said quietly, his hand snaking down towards the struggling wraith. "Let me take that burden off your shoulders."

Before Raziel could do anything to resist that hand jammed forward and Abaddon's talons sank right into his chest, puncturing fully down to the wrist. Raziel stiffened and twitched, his eyes wide in stunned horror. Kain grunted, righting himself from his collapsed position and rising as swiftly as he could back to his feet.

With his face contorting with dismayed wonder he could see a beam of intense blue light pulsing from the hole Abaddon had made, flickering as the hand within twisted and groped about. Finally the arm stiffened as the searching hand found what it was looking for and began to pull free, tugging something with it.

"R..Raziel! Help me!" A woman's voice was screaming and Kain drew in his breath sharply as he saw what Abaddon was struggling to yank free from Raziel's form. Mostly it seemed to resemble a twisting mass of matter, powerfully luminous and constantly changing shape. But in that shape flickered occasional recognisable forms, the most striking being that of a woman's horrified face, a face which occasionally displayed a bare skull on the left profile.

"Ariel!" Raziel exclaimed hoarsely as the true horror of what was happening seemed to dawn on him. "NO! STOP!" With a sudden fervent desperation he struggled, kicking, clawing, even firing off telekinetic bolts to try and force Abaddon away. But Abaddon ignored him, indifferent to anything he might do. Bit by bit he was dragging that terrified soul free.

Kain broke into a run.

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 **"This was a power I had only ever seen once before, when Raziel's soul had been pulled from my being by his own first incarnation. I could actually see her, tugged bit by bit from Raziel's physical body. It was as though he could grasp her ghostly form as easily as he could were she solid flesh and bone. I feared I was already too late."**

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Throwing himself across the chamber, Kain dispersed himself into bats to cross the distance faster. Raziel's cries of alarm and Ariel's screams of horror leant him a speed he did not think possible, propelling him with the Reaver raised high. A scream of outrage left his lips as he barreled with every ounce of strength he could summon towards their enemy.

But he was indeed too late. With one final, forceful yank, Abaddon ripped the glowing matter free from Raziel's body and then leapt backwards. His motion came only a fraction of a second in time, for any later and Kain's sword would have been slicing through his head. Kain snarled out a curse as he missed, skidding to a stop and turning quickly.

"ARIEL!" Raziel cried out, one hand on the hole in his chest and the other stretched out toward the soul in Abaddon's possession.

Abaddon rose into the air, beating his wings to keep himself aloft. He held the stolen spirit in his hand firmly, watching its luminous matter struggle feebly to free itself. Raziel wrested himself to his feet, his face contorting with a powerful mix of burning emotions, chief amongst them being stark terror.  
"Give her back!" The blue wraith demanded, trying to move forward but staggering. The hole in his chest was still leaking light around his talons and Kain had to reach out quickly to steady him. "Give her back, you bastard!"

Abaddon continued to admire his prize, turning his head side to side as if he had not heard. A slight smile was tugging at his lips.

"No. She is mine now." He finally said and that intense but emotionless voice finally seemed to exhibit a distinct quality, that of a sadistic satisfaction. "A frightened, confused woman existing long past her time."

Their enemy's fist suddenly clenched and Ariel's scream of pain echoed around the chamber, so high pitched that Kain could not help but flinch at the sound of it. The visible energy of her soul, so bright and burning, danced and writhed between the talons of that fist. The soul of a Balance Guardian, even one so long dead as her, was a powerful thing and her essense shot sparks in all directions as it was molded into a new shape.

Raziel and Kain watched in horror as, with a sudden flurry of light, Abaddon placed his captive soul over his right arm. Her sparking essense lanced up and down that arm, writhing like a snake, gathering itself at the palm. There it erupted forth, bursting forward several feet until it formed a new shape. A straight blade, twisting and flickering as though it were flame, glowing with a golden light. Slowly Abaddon raised his arm above his head and held it there, displaying his new weapon for them all to see. His hand turned about slowly so they all could witness it from different angles and positions.

"What a marvelous tool she makes!" He declared and his voice had lost all trace of detachment. It rang with rapture, of a gloriously sick fulfilment. Those lifeless voids in his face now seemed alive with intense pleasure.

"So how does it feel, former Divus King, to be reduced to nothing?" Abaddon asked suddenly, looking down at Raziel. The blue wraith stared back up at him, eyes wide with horror. "To finally have all you treasure stripped from your being and your weakness laid bare?"

And that was when Kain knew him. Suddenly the physical alterations all seemed to fall away, like they were nothing more than a cheap disguise.

"...Asmodeus?!" He breathed in stunned awe. Raziel shot him a startled look.

"What?!" He demanded hoarsely.

From above, Abaddon was still admiring his new weapon. A second wraith blade, forged from the soul of the only thing Raziel held dear.

"Asmodeus-Divus died crying out for mercy." He remarked dismissively, gazing down at them across the flickering length of the phantom blade. The golden light reflected off of those eyes but they seemed even more like bottomless pits than ever before, as though Nowhere and Nowhen lay beyond them. "I am Abaddon!"


	11. The swift right hand of God

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Raziel stood there, stock still with eyes wide in dawning horror for only a handful of moments. Then his face began to contort, twisting as powerful emotions burst free from the confusion the revelation had conjured, his eyes flaming with anger so intense his spindly blue body began to tremble. His hands curled into tightly balled fists on either side of himself.

"You…" His voice was like the crackling of ice after a long, hard winter. Heedless of the hole in his chest through which beams of bright light still lanced, he took a step towards their enemy. "You utter bastard!" His right arm flexed in a savage motion, his own blue wraith blade rushing forth with a screech of the most intense indignation. "Even now is there nothing in your soul but jealousy of me?!"

Above, Abaddon twisted his arm about as he studied his newly acquired wraith blade as though oblivious to their presence for the moment. Forged from the stolen soul of Ariel, the weapon was an almost exact match for Raziel's own save for being a deep golden colour. It hummed as its spectral flames danced and in that humming, Kain was certain he could hear faint cries, pleas for help as though from some terrible distance.

For centuries as he had sat upon the throne placed at the stump of the Pillar of Balance, Kain had listened to the whispered cries and moans of the spirit of his predecessor, sobbing away the years. He had always heard her quite clearly, weeping filled with lament and eternal sadness. Mourning which had always been beyond the ears of anyone else who ventured into the central chamber.

But now those cries were filled not with hopelessness but far more immediate reactions; panic, horror, desperation. Whatever refuge she had found while being bound to Raziel's soul must have been such a salve that being torn from him was causing her actual pain. Kain found that after all the years he had listened to her lament her fate, these cries were worse.

"You misunderstand." Abaddon said, holding her kidnapped form before him. "For you, Asmodeus had nothing but the most fiery of contempt and disdain. He truly hated you with a passion that was almost holy. His taking things from you was not jealousy, but rather a way of hurting you, punishing you."

He paused then in his admiration of his golden weapon, holding his arm perfectly still. That golden light reflecting off of those empty black eyes filled Kain with more dread than he had ever felt before at one time, even when they were not looking directly at any of them.

"And while I confess lingering desires of his remain in me, they are slowly fading. Asmodeus is gone and will not trouble you further." He said.

"If that is true, then give her back!" Raziel demanded in a voice that made Kain shoot him a look. It was a hoarse, raspy sound that he had only ever heard from the blue wraith once before, when he had been subjected to the horrors of being consumed by the Reaver. It was a gravelly voice of tightly wound pain.

"No." Abaddon replied flatly and dropped down to the floor of the chamber, folding his wings behind him. With a flourish he held his new weapon out at arm's length. "She is a useful tool that I will need to fulfil the edicts of the Master." Then he let a small smile part his translucent lips. "And I myself wish to see you suffer, not for Asmodeus' sake, but as punishment for your rejection of your rightful master. For your disobedience to the being which made you what you are and who rules over all life." His voice took on an edge of contempt and mockery. "For that crime, Raziel, you now truly stand alone."

Kain quickly reached for Raziel, grasping his shoulder tight.

"Raziel, don't be…" He began but too late. With a cry of blazing anger, the blue wraith tore himself out of Kain's grip and lunged at Abaddon, his own wraith blade echoing with a screech of outrage.

Abaddon responded in kind, racing forward to meet the oncoming charge and in a clash the two ghostly blades came together in an exchange of flaring light. The flash was so bright Kain had to raise his hand to shield his eyes. The two of them clashed over and over and each time those spectral swords met, the entire chamber was lit by an intense burst of brilliant radiance.

Raziel was attacking in a blind, vengeful, desperate fury. He was paying almost no attention to defense at all, pressing his assault so intently that for the moment Abaddon was forced to respond and parry to defend himself. But this balance of power would not last long, Kain knew for certain. In his enraged state, all Raziel had to do was make one mistake and Abaddon would finish him in an instant.

"Give her back!" The blue wraith snarled, thrusting himself into the air and spinning his entire body around with the Reaver screeching at the end of his outstretched arm. Kain recognised it as the Phantasmal Tempest technique, a unique move that only Raziel with his emaciated body could successfully perform. Abaddon raised his new weapon to block the attack but Raziel's fury seemed to lend it strength, forcing their enemy to take several steps back each time the two wraith blades met and flared together.

"Damn you, give me her back!" Raziel did not wait. The moment he hit the floor he attacked again, not with the Reaver this time but with a kick. His spindly blue body lashed out like an uncoiling whip and his foot caught Abaddon in the side. Abaddon grunted and staggered back from the blow. Kain tensed, a brief spark of hope flaring inside him.

Raziel leapt at their enemy with his talons outspread, pouncing like an enraged animal. The two collided and the blue wraith took Abaddon to the floor, one foot pinning down the arm upon which Ariel's captive spirit blazed. Abaddon simply gazed up from his position with no real sign of alarm. Indeed there was a half smile tugging at his lips, his teeth showing through their translucent flesh.

"You seem vexed, Raziel." Their enemy observed. "Are you truly so weak-minded without her whispering in your ear?" His tone was mockingly condescending. "After all those years entombed within the sword, was she really the only thing keeping you sane?"

Raziel flinched.

Kain was moving before Abaddon was, but even so he was still too late. In that one moment of hesitation, Abaddon reared back and struck Raziel full in the face with a headbutt that knocked the blue wraith backwards. Freed from his confines, their enemy swung his newly acquired sword around in an arc and sliced Raziel across the chest with it, the cut running diagonally up to the right-hand shoulder and carving open the hole even wider.

Raziel tumbled back, his torso looking like it had nearly been sliced in half, light pouring out of those wounds along with a neon blue ichor-like substance which seemed to stand for blood. Abaddon was rising, his weapon poised for a lunge which would impale Raziel and finish the wraith. But before he could, Abaddon turned quickly and beat his wings hard to push him out of the way as the serpentine form of the Reaver came down where he had been standing less than a moment ago.

"And do not think for a moment I have forgotten about you, Kain." Their enemy said as Kain stepped between him and Raziel. The blue wraith had collapsed down to his hands and knees, struggling with the gash opened in his chest, gasping in a hoarse moan as though unable to get his breath. His hands were grasping his body tight in a way that seemed to suggest he was literally trying to hold himself together.

"I would be insulted if you had." Kain replied, trying to sound jovial about it. But in truth he felt as though he were standing upon the edge of a towering cliff, ready to plunge over the precipice.

-0-

 **"If this reforged and galvanised version of our enemy was like Raziel, existing between the realms, then what could any of us possibly do to defeat him? No matter what we did to him in the physical world he would simply retreat to the spectral, recover, and then attack once more."**

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His mind raced, trying in a scramble of seeming madness to come up with some sort of strategy or plan which might serve. But it's efforts were in vain. Abaddon was simply too much for them, already depleted from the previous battle, to deal with on their own. They had to escape, regroup, and recover. This, of course, meant the risk of a translocation spell. Not ideal, for it would be tracked. But there seemed no alternative.

Presently, however, that avenue for escape was untenable. Ajatar was still lying unconscious some distance away and Raziel's body was on the verge of collapse. It was unlikely Abaddon was going to allow him to simply grasp them both and disappear. He needed to buy Raziel some time to recover.

"Asmodeus' one crucial error was saving you from the abyss of time." Abaddon was saying, lowering his new weapon down to his side and folding his wings behind him. "His ambition allowed you to escape when he ought have simply let you float out there where time means nothing. I will not repeat that mistake."

Kain's eyes flicked from Raziel to Ajatar, his lips pressed tight. Perhaps it was time to deploy one of his most rarely used weapons. Wit.

"Strange how you speak, like you are not Asmodeus but rather something supplanting his physical existence." He said, keeping the Reaver clasped firmly in both hands. He kept his tone neutral despite those black pits fixed upon him. Even now they ignited that primordial fear of death within him.

"I am Abaddon. I am as the Master made me." Their enemy replied, narrowing one eye almost challengingly. "Formed from refuse of a failed servant."

"So Asmodeus was but the clay on the potter's wheel?" Kain observed, keeping his eyes fixed on Abaddon as he began to pace to one side. Abaddon matched him, the two circling each other in a slow walk.

"In a manner of speaking." Abaddon conceded, tilting his head to one side.

"Fascinating." Kain muttered and then forced himself to adopt one of his wide, amused smiles. "And also tragic."

Abaddon's face creased, the action causing the muscle beneath the translucent skin to tighten and relax visibly.

"Explain yourself." He demanded with some irritation. Kain kept smiling, his eyes constantly moving, observing all that was going on in the chamber while he had successfully managed to get Abaddon's complete attention. All he had to do now was hold it until the time was exactly right.

"For all his many faults, there was one quality about Asmodeus worth admiring." Kain went on, slowing his pace and forcing Abaddon to match him. "A passion to drive him toward his own goals. Selfish goals to be certain, but he pursued them with vigor. I see none of that same fire in you." He shook his head. "You are empty. I wonder if this was a reward or a punishment for Asmodeus. Or if it really matters."

Those two empty holes regarded Kain for a prolonged, contemplative moment. Even then they seemed as bottomless as ever, an unending void where eternal silence waited.

"What use have I for such things?" Abaddon finally asked, his tone both dismissive and baffled at once. "I am but an instrument of the Master's will. His will is my will. His thoughts, my thoughts. This union and servitude has granted me peace the likes of which you could never understand."

Kain and Abaddon came to a stop, eyes still locked across the distance of blood-splattered chamber between them.

"Perhaps not." The Vampire admitted tensely, knowing they had arrived at the crucial moment. He was standing in exactly the right place now. And so was Abaddon. Everything came now down to timing. "But the irony is amusing. A soul of fire transformed into a soul of ice." His eyes glanced briefly past Abaddon and back again, then he smiled. "Speaking of ice…"

Abaddon frowned and parted his lips to say something but as he did, his breath came out as a visible white mist. Seeing this and then feeling the sudden cold all about him, the air turning crisp, he quickly turned. But not quite quickly enough. A screech spilled around the chamber as a massive icicle, blood red from the miasma coating the room, speared his body like a lance through his midsection. The jagged tip burst out his back between his wings at least a foot, leaving him pinned in place even while on his feet.

Gasping, Abaddon collapsed forward onto the impaling ice, his entire body shivering and twitching. His facial muscles contorted visibly under his skin to an expression of shock and startled pain. Still on the floor, but now with her eyes open was Ajatar-Cadre. She was laying on her side with one arm stretched out and a hand laid down upon the ground from whence she had used her Serioli talents to call forth the element of water to form an attack.

Kain had seen her recover from her unconscious state and had deliberately kept Abaddon talking so he would not notice, giving her time to attack him from behind. Now that she had, Kain had no intention of allowing their enemy's slip to go unexploited. Taking the Reaver firmly in both hands he charged forward with a roar, barreling down on Abaddon and ramming his sword with all the force he could muster into his chest.

The serpentine form of the Reaver blade bit deep, slamming through Abaddon's torso from behind and punching out his chest just below his collarbone. Their enemy coughed and swayed, pinned between the two impaling weapons stuck inside him. Snarling, Kain withdrew the Reaver blade before plunging it in again. Over and over he stabbed Abaddon with the weapon, each time leaving a gaping wound which, like Raziel's, poured intense beams of light.

Abaddon snarled, baring his teeth, grabbing Kain's arm as he swung the ancient weapon again, keeping it from punching through his body again.

"You'll find...that my soul is...harder to take than those of others!" He hissed before angrily raising a foot and kicking Kain back. The Vampire staggered several paces, trying to right himself but the interruption in the assault was all Abaddon needed. With one sweep of his right arm he brought his own variation of the wraith blade down upon the icicle pinioning his body, slicing it off and allowing him to tear the rest of it free with his left hand. Before Kain could attack again, Abaddon took that icicle tip and hurled it like a spear directly at him.

Kain batted it aside with the Reaver before advancing again, only this time Abaddon was waiting for him. The two of them came together with a powerful collision, shoulder slamming into shoulder before either of them could swing their weapons. They struggled against one another for a moment before backing off, weapons arching around. Both missed their mark but Kain grunted in annoyance as the golden blade formed by Ariel's stolen soul sliced down through the imperial banner which hung from his shoulder, leaving a large tear in it.

Lashing out with a foot he kicked Abaddon across the chin, knocking his enemy backwards several paces. As Abaddon staggered Kain threw forth a free hand and discharged a multitude of telekinetic bolts directly into his body, striking him across the head and shoulders. This did little damage, but they were enough to keep their enemy off balance, forcing him to raise his hands to protect himself.

"Ajatar, can you still fight?" He called to her, watching out the corner of his eye as the Grandmaster of the Serioli was struggling to get back to her feet. "And do not give me a stoic response of reassurance. I don't have time for useless bravado." He could see that her body was swaying quite ominously and the gaze she directed back at him was alarmingly unfocused.

"I feel like I am about to die, my Lord." She admitted quite openly and the waver in her voice showed that she was not speaking in jest.

"I would prefer it if you did not." Kain muttered, discharging more and more bolts of telekinetic force into Abaddon, forcing their enemy back step by step. The repetition of such blunt telekinesis was not something he could keep up indefinitely, however. Already he could feel his mind growing numb.

"I think I have one final surge in me." Ajatar huffed, leaning to one side, propping herself up with her good wing. "But it won't be enough to…" She was cut off when suddenly Raziel was there, his hand on her shoulder.

The blue wraith was still holding one hand around his chest, beams of light flickering about like embers from a fire. His entire physical body had grown hazey and indistinct. Its very outline seemed to be fading, as though whatever bound him together was on the verge of giving out. His eyes, however, were burning with a fierce, cold intensity.

"Lend me everything you have." He said in a voice like cold stone, raising to her sight the arcane device on his left arm, the contraption which allowed him to use his shield. The shield, capable of storing and utilising elemental force, was still sparking with energy in random spots. Ajatar looked back at him in a lopsided, dizzy way, slowly grasping what he was suggesting.

"Kain, keep him busy!" Raziel shouted, offering her his arm. She took it in her trembling hands and laid her palm over the device.

"Make it count, Raziel!" Kain called back, wincing as he found himself unable to issue forth any more telekinetic bolts. Even as he discharged the last one, he did not allow his enemy a moment to recover. He took the Reaver in hand and charged straight at Abaddon, the sword raised ready to strike.

Abaddon slapped that last bolt aside with his hand, a thoroughly irritated look flexing the muscles beneath his translucent skin. He met Kain head-on, each swinging their swords and ducking and diving to avoid the attacks of the other. With every swing his enemy made, Kain could hear Ariel's frantic cries from within the burning golden light of that spectral weapon. Cries of terrible anguish, and he believed those cries were not caused by her kidnapping and imprisonment, but by her separation from Raziel.

Growling in anger, Kain swung the Reaver around in an arc aimed directly at Abaddon's head. Abaddon ducked under the swing and then thrust his arm forward, trying to slam his ghostly weapon directly through the Vampire's midsection. Kain, however, had been waiting for the attack and dodged to the side, spinning around fast enough to slam his elbow into Abaddon's face.

The blow forced a grunt out of his enemy and Kain took the opportunity to press in, slamming his weight against Abaddon and trying to knock him over. But Abaddon's footing held and they struggling there, each grabbing the other by the wrist of the hand that held their weapon.

"Is that sympathy I see in your eyes, Kain?" Abaddon asked between gritted teeth as they struggled, each trying to struggle out of the grip of the other. "Do her cries upset you?"

Kain's only answer was a deep frown, his brow furrowing and the corners of his lips curling. Abaddon grunted in response, taking the silence for the answer it was, straining to pull his arm free of Kain's grip.

"You're the last person in existence who gets to feel sorry for her! After all, you're the reason she's still here!" He proclaimed, raising himself up and snapping his wings out wide so they flanked either side of his body. "Had you not been so selfish and accepted the sacrifice, she would have been freed to rejoin the Wheel! Thousands of years of entrapment at the Pillars, sealed in the sword with your firstborn cretin, and now my tool to use as I see fit! You have no one to blame for her circumstances but yourself!"

His words were nothing Kain had not already thought himself. They passed over him like the callous barbs they were. As he stared into that face with its translucent skin, the muscle and bone beneath, he could finally see what he could not before. For all this creature's claims of rebirth and transcendence and for all the changes made, the damnable pettiness was still there.

"Those eyes of yours are like the cold pits of Death itself. I can feel them calling to me, beckoning me to give up." Kain admitted, drawing in a breath as he gazed at the dark orbs which up until this moment had inspired so much fear in him. Now, though?

Now they were just eyes.

"But your words are the same spiteful, vile poison that you have always spewed." His lips curled in disgust. "You haven't changed. And I refuse to be intimidated or judged by the likes of you!"

He let go of Abaddon's arm but as his freed enemy began to draw his ghostly sword back for a thrust, Kain raised one foot and kicked him with all the force he could muster directly between his legs. There was a loud crunch. Abaddon gagged and doubled over and Kain promptly kicked him again, this time right in the face. The blow sent their enemy toppling backwards, crashing to the floor of the bloodstained chamber.

"Kain!" Raziel's cry stopped him before he could a step. Turning, the Vampire quickly saw that he had bought enough time.

Ajatar had laid both hands upon the shield device fixed to the blue wraith's arm, and her entire body shuddered as she exerted a gargantuan effort. Her lips were moving rapidly as though she were speaking a continuous sentence but no sound came from her mouth. Sweat ran down her face as she strained.

Kain could see the result of her labour quite easily. The shield device was glowing, a powerful light bursting forth from every seam within its structure. Raziel was holding as still as he could but even he was straining now, barely able to hold himself together but driven on by anxious desperation.

"Give - me - HER - BACK!" He called out, the light within the device growing more and more intense. Cracks were spreading over it, the entire thing straining and warping. Kain suddenly understood what they were doing. Ajatar was channeling all the elemental force she had left into the shield, all the elements combining within the confines of that tight space. The shield had already absorbed a great deal of power and now that more was being poured in from Ajatar's own reserves, it was clearly more than the device could handle.

Finally the tipping point was reached. The device exploded, erupting forth with a geyser of churning elemental power. Fire, earth, air, and water all surged around each other like writhing snakes and had Raziel not retained enough control to aim the torrent, they would have destroyed the entire chamber.

Kain dispersed his body into bats at once, each one scrambling wildly to get out of the way a mere instant before surging beams of essense shot past with a scream that shook the ground.

-0-

 **"To feel all the elements unleashed at once, in such raw, unrestricted power, was a sensation I was not in a hurry to sample again."**

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Abaddon was not so fortunate. Still climbing back to his feet, their enemy was directly in the path of the blast and was engulfed by it, vanishing in a flash of light so intense that as Kain reformed he was forced to shield his eyes. His ears rang with the sheer power of that unleashing.

Finally the light began to fade, leaving only a churning, sparking mass of freezing flames in its wake and Kain peered through his talons at it. The blast had scored a furrow through the floor of the chamber and punched a hole into the far wall, the edges all crumbling and scorched. There was no sign of Abaddon.

The device Raziel had claimed from his first incarnation fell to the ground, crumbling into pieces at the blue wraith's feet. It had been reduced to brittle flakes of metal that were disintegrating further into dust upon the floor. Raziel stood there for a moment as silent as a statue, his arm outstretched before he too fell to the ground, collapsing into a heap. Behind him, Ajatar tumbled backwards and fell onto her back, struggling for breath.

"Ariel…" Raziel murmured, his eyes near slits. Vainly he tried to rise but as if that physical action had been the tipping point, his body finally gave out. With a sudden rush his form began to vanish, becoming translucent and flimsy before finally vanishing all together. Kain let out a sharp breath. Returned to the spectral realm, Raziel might have a chance to recover and then meet back up with them.

Kain wavered sharply and had to steady himself. His own body was informing him quite firmly that he would need to replenish his own energies and very soon.

There was a sudden crash from the other end of the chamber and Kain spun, eyes widening in disbelief. A hand had been punched through the crumbling black wall from the other side, a hand with talons and translucent skin. Another hand emerged and, gripping the fragile stone, they hauled it to one side, widening the hole until Abaddon emerged from within. His entire body was charred and badly scorched, lanced with glowing cuts across his arms and legs. Ice clung thickly to his hair and wings and parts of him were crackling with small bolts of lightning.

As he pushed free of the hole he descended down onto one knee, struggling for breath, heaving deeply and hoarsely.

"Does nothing put you down?!" Kain demanded, incredulous. Hearing his words, Ajatar hauled herself up and stared with equal incredulity at their enemy's survival of such an assault.

Abaddon did not immediately answer. He stayed down with a hand resting on his knee, his breathing slowly becoming more agitated and intense. Slowly he raised his eyes back up and this time, gazing into those black orbs Kain did not feel the fear of death, but rather a radiating sense of outrage and anger.

"...enough." Their enemy growled, rising slowly back to his feet, his arms dangling beneath him and his legs unsteady. "ENOUGH!" His cry echoed throughout the chamber as he raised his head and bellowed. His right arm flourished, the golden blade forged from Ariel's stolen stole bursting forth with the echoing cry of her anguish.

But their enemy did not move to attack them. Instead he raised his arm high in the air before plunging it down and driving his fist into the ground, punching through the floor of the chamber and his arm up to the elbow.

All about them, the entire room shook and trembled, buckling up as though gripped in the intensity of an earth tremor. Golden light flared from below. Cracks spread rapidly, running across the floor, walls, and ceiling, dust and debris tumbling free to crash into the ground. All around the Melchahim symbols were shattered, breaking apart and falling away. The circular metal cage in the centre of the chamber shuddered and collapsed with a loud clatter.

"I am Abaddon, the angel of destruction!" Their enemy cried over the rumble and boom coming from all around. "And you, are NOTHING!"

"Ajatar, run!" Kain shouted back at her, turning sharply. Ajatar just gawked at him in confusion. With a snarl Kain raised his hand and forced his mind to perform one final act, telekinetically taking hold of her spent body and hurling her with no gentleness back. Too beaten and worn to resist, the Serioli Grandmaster was thrown out of the chamber, landing with a thud in the corridor outside.

"Lord Kain!" She cried out. She was saying something more, the lips on her confused and startled face were moving. But her words were drowned out as Abaddon forced his entire arm down sharply into the ground and the total collapse began. The walls broke apart in a sudden burst, the ceiling shattering like a cracked eggshell, and the floor separating into half a dozen moving pieces.

Above, the massive circular grinding mechanism used by Melchiah for so long as an efficient disposal apparatus of unwanted meat swayed and shuddered as its moorings were broken apart. Finally it lurched to one side, striking the side of the wall before crashing down to the floor. Its impact was the final blow and as it plunged through the floor, it brought the chamber's disintegration to a climax.

The entire room seemed to decide right then and there to go and Kain was caught up in it all, trapped by the crumbling rubble.

-0-

 **"Faced with such unstoppable force, such immense power, and deprived of any resources or allies there was but one thing I could do. Fall. Tumble blindly and wildly down into the dark recesses of the earth, watching the mountain I knew I had to climb still towering insurmountably over me."**

-0-

Kain had one last glimpse of Ajatar's horrified expression gazing down at him, before he was swallowed up by the dark void into which the debris of the bloody chamber fell.


	12. A forgotten man

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 **Part Two**

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Consciousness was slow to return to Kain. It was a rising, ebbing tide that was in no hurry to arrive. When it at last did, Kain found himself in no doubt of his awareness due to the acute sensation of pain, the truest way to tell when one was awake. His body felt stiff and sore all over, as though he had been battered around by an angry mob all wielding clubs. A grunt of intense discomfort escaped his lips as they peeled back from clenched teeth. His eyes were screwed shut and for some time they refused to obey his command to open. When they finally relentled, his vision was blurred and hazy and he had to blink several times to focus.

Darkness was all around him, an engulfing veil which left him unable to see even a few inches beyond his own nose. He could feel cold stone beneath him, an uneven, jagged surface with brittle edges. Perhaps a shelf of flint? Forcing his body to obey him despite its condition, Kain got his arms under himself and forced himself inch by grueling inch up into a sitting position.

As he did so he became aware of the feeling of dampness. Quickly, acting on panicked instinct, he drew his legs up and out of a swiftly flowing passage of water in which they had been laying. Normally water burned a Vampire's flesh like the most virulent of acids, and for the majority of his existence Kain had shared that vulnerability. Only during his venture to the past where he had encountered the Tablets of Dark Fable had he overcome that weakness.

Pulling himself into a crouch, Kain drew in a deep breath to steady himself before he raised a hand and called upon what reserves of energy he had left within his body. This he manifested as a blue orb of magical light, rising from his palm and bobbing about in the air like a cloud. Its radiance was certainly not an intense light, but it was enough to reveal his surroundings.

He was in a cavernous space through which indeed an underground stream was flowing, bubbling a foot or so deep over rounded rocks before vanishing down a passageway to his left. Stalactites and stalagmites lanced up and down all around like clusters of hideously warped teeth, a colossal mouth ready to snap shut. High above, the water tumbled into the cavern through a hole in the ceiling and Kain had the uncomfortable image of himself falling through that hole, before being carried to this resting place by the water's current. His body certainly felt like that had been the case.

-0-

 **"I didn't recognise any of my surroundings, nor could I sense just where in Nosgoth I had been stranded. All I could feel was the oppressive sensation of mountains of rock looming over me. Into what godforsaken subterranean world had I been swept?"**

-0-

A gleam caught his eye and Kain turned his head to look. The light of his spell was reflecting off of a curved piece of metal sticking up out of the water nearby. He knew it at once for the tip of the Reaver blade. The sword had become lodged between two rocks, mostly submerged under the water. It did not take much effort to retrieve the weapon and once he had Kain took a moment to stand there holding it, leaning on it like an old man would a walking stick. The comparison was extremely distasteful. Firmly he shook his head to clear the cloying blanket of debilitating grogginess wrapped around it.

"Raziel?" He called out, his voice echoing through the vaults of the cavern and out through a series of unseen but clearly connected caves. "Ajatar?" Their names reverberated off the unseen walls over and over, slowly growing fainter with each repetition. There was no reply. Kain frowned grimly.

-0-

 **"Nothing. I was alone down here, cut off from any aid or reinforcement. My head ached abominably from lack of nourishment and the abuse my body had been forced to absorb. I needed to feed. But in these dank and forgotten catacombs, what succor was I likely to find?"**

-0-

The fortunate thing was that he had, for the moment at least, escaped the destructive wrath of Abaddon. Whether Ajatar had been able to do the same, he did not know, but hopefully in the chaos caused by the chamber's collapse she had been able to effect an escape. While her current whereabouts were a concern, he had no option other than to trust in her ability to survive. The important thing right now was to find his way out of these caverns.

The stream guided him down the cavern and he followed it, gesturing with one hand for the orb of light to follow him and illuminate his path. Surely this water had to empty out somewhere, and perhaps from there he might find a path back to the surface. It was not exactly a plan without faults but presently it was all he had. If all else failed he could try to resort to a translocation, but that was risky, especially considering he did not know where he was.

The cavern seemed endless and twisted several times as the stream wound its way down through a snake-like path, moving deeper and deeper into the earth. The air around him was still and sluggish, as though moved to life only recently after thousands of years of dormancy. The farther he traveled, the worse that stillness became until he could taste the dust and staleness cloying upon his tongue. Despite the presence of water, universally revered as the sustainer of life, this dank set of caves felt like a tomb.

That impression only intensified as the cavern finally rounded a corner at the bottom of its seemingly endless length and Kain came across a sudden change in his surroundings. Up until now he had been walking on rough, uneven rock, but with one step he found himself standing upon a level stone floor. Glancing down sharply he saw that indeed he had walked directly off of the edge of a rocky slab and onto a perfectly rectangular stone tile.

Raising his hand he made the orb of light float high, allotting it more energy to increase its radiance. Slowly the shadows about him peeled back like the curling of firewood on the hearth and as it receded, towering pillars of greenish stone loomed up all about him like the fingers of a colossal hand. Their appearance was so unexpected that he paused there for several lingering moments simply staring, before he tentatively advanced.

There were dozens of pillars, all of differing height although of uniform width. They jutted up out of the surrounding chamber with no apparent pattern to their placement. Some stood perfectly erect while others were leaning at angles. Some had fallen over, scattering their segments over the floor. They all were made of the same greenish stone, featureless save for a rugged, flaky texture.

It was as he approached, raising his hand so that the orb of light hovered higher still, that he realised his mistake. The stones were not green at all, but rather they were covered in a thick coating of encrusted algae. Greater amounts of water than the current stream must have passed through here at some point in the far past and when it dried up, the revealed pillars had had the subterranean filth dry over it.

Kain raised a hand and brushed at the surface of the nearest pillar. The dry green coating came away easily, flaking off and crumbling at the merest pressure. Beneath was a dry, dull reddish stone that must have been a far brighter colour before the passage of time had dimmed it. But what caught Kain's immediate eye was not the colour, rather the engraving which slowly began to reveal itself. Scraping away more of the coating of dead algae, Kain followed the surviving lines of the concealed picture until it finally stood out before him.

The twisting form of a snake had been carved into the pillar, a cobra with a large flared hood and open mouth with fangs extended. The tail curled around the pillar, wrapping about it several times before the tip rested at floor level. The style was elaborate and highly detailed, so much so that Kain was certain he could see the individual scales running down the length of the depicted animal. The outline had been carved into the stone to give it depth and contrast, but within the colouring seemed embedded into the stone itself, as if the very substance had been altered in the creation of the art.

Crossing from one pillar to another Kain saw that each was similarly decorated, though all with a different animal beneath their covering of dried algae. One was a vulpine-like mammal, followed immediately by a long-legged spider. To his left he discovered the image of a titanic beast with a long curling nose and sail-like ears, a set of tusks protruding from its lips. The name of the creature escaped him.

The most common type of creature depicted, however, seemed to be reptiles, for he uncovered images of crawlings lizards, more and varied snakes, and so forth. Many of these reptiles he did not recognise, but their primitive look made him wonder if perhaps they might be depictions of animals long since faded into extinction.

-0-

 **"What manner of ruins were these, so far down within the depths of the earth? They were like nothing I had ever seen before. They were certainly not the remains of Human dwellings, nor were they any recognisable Vampire or even Hylden settlements. Just what was this place?"**

-0-

Frowning, he glanced around at all the pictures of animals he had uncovered. Perhaps he was standing in the midst of the remains of some primeval temple, raised by primitive beings so long ago it had gotten buried by centuries of stratification. The theory did not sit well with him, for these beautiful depictions clearly showed that the artists had been capable of astoundingly advanced work. Yet he had seen nothing quite like them in any set of ruins he had traversed before. Just who had the creators of this place been?

A sound began to intrude upon his awareness as he stood contemplating the archaeological mystery. It took a moment for his distracted mind to register it and then place the sound. When it did he stiffened in alarm and glanced about sharply, one hand going to the Reaver's hilt. The steady tapping sound was growing louder and louder, echoing through the caves. Footsteps.

Quickly Kain slipped into the shadows behind one of the stone columns he had been admiring and dismissed the magical light, plunging the chamber back into complete darkness. There he crouched, waiting with held breath as the footsteps steadily approached. He did not know what man or beast other than himself could be lurking down here, but he was taking no chances.

He did not have to wait long. From out of a side tunnel that he had not even noticed before a slender figure emerged, carrying before it in an extended hand a glowing lantern. The light from that lantern was not the usual yellow or red of a candle flame, but rather a softly pulsating green, casting long, dancing shadows across the chamber. Kain made sure he was properly concealed in those shadows and watched, his body tense.

The strange figure paused there at the entrance to the chamber, holding the handle of the archaic lantern in one old and bony hand. Its head looked about slowly from right to left and only once it had surveyed that the cavern was empty did it advance. As it moved in Kain viewed more of the new arrival and what he saw made his brows furrow in both confusion and apprehension.

The figure was wrapped up in what looked like a black cloak, covering it from head to toe and leaving only the extended hand uncovered. Its form was tall and lean, even spindly, and it carried itself with a weary slump, the kind of gait used by those who had been carrying a heavy load for too long and the body had adopted the posture permanently.

The lantern it was holding was not a standard glass lantern. It was far more decoratively designed, with flaring outside edges which looked like overlapping, curling tentacles wrapped about the image of a skull with its jaw agape. The flame within seemed to burn with no visible source of fuel, a small, flickering orb of malicious and sickly light which Kain recognised instantly. Ignus Fatuus, a form of magical fire said to light the path to Hell. He had seen it before, lighting the way to Vorador's long ancient mansion.

The stranger walked haltingly through the cavern and as he passed Kain suddenly discovered that the figure was faintly transparent. He could see the far wall of the chamber through his body. This was no flesh and blood entity to be feared, but rather an apparition, a lingering spectre haunting this long forgotten dwelling. The ghost continued on, passing through the length of the chamber past all the towering stone columns, keeping its lantern held out before it.

Kain did not step out of concealment but remained exactly where he was, watching the spirit with an unblinking gaze until it moved under the archway of another path that until now had been concealed in the shadows. The sound of its unearthly footsteps faded with it as the cavern slowly slipped back into total darkness. He waited there in the shadows for a long stretch of tense moments, simply listening even after all had grown silent.

-0-

 **"I did not know what haunted this ancient place, but I did not intend to keep it company any longer than necessary."**

-0-

Abaddon's image had left him rattled, he was quite prepared to admit if only to himself. This spectre did not frighten him in any way, rather there was something about it that gave him pause. When he had looked at it, he had had a powerful sense of familiarity. He could not shake the insistant, nagging feeling that he had seen this spectre somewhere before. It irritated him that he could not recall from where, especially as he had the sense that he ought to easily remember.

Exactly what impulse made Kain follow the spirit, he did not know, but he soon found himself slowly advancing down the passageway the ghost had taken. He did not summon his own orb of light for the moment, instead kept himself in the near all encompassing darkness. Ahead he could see the green glow of the Ignus Fatuus bobbing along as the ghost continued on its path, moving down out of the corridor's far end into another chamber.

Kain followed quickly but kept himself prudently just out of reach of the lantern's light, keeping his own steps light and as quiet as possible, stepping as the ghost stepped in order for its own footsteps to mask whatever small sound he might make. He doubted a mere ghost was any sort of physical threat to him but down here, separated from any allies, nourishment, or safe haven it was not a risk he was prepared to take. One thrust with the Reaver and this wandering soul would be devoured in an instant.

The chamber at the far end of the corridor was a colossal, cathedral-sized opening with a huge arched ceiling overhead. Its state of preservation was impressive despite the thick coating of dry, dead algae which covered everything. The floor was perfectly level with no sign of damage. The walls were straight and mostly unblemished and the high ceiling intact, held up by large stone buttresses which mirrored one another along the chamber's long length.

The ghost was ahead of him, crossing the chamber with its lantern. The light of the Ignus Fatuus spread farther in this large open space, highlighting sections of the walls and stone supporters as the spectre passed by. Kain quickly followed, sliding from one concealment to the next, as quiet as he could be as he kept pace. The ghost obliviously carried on its way, moving down the chamber's length.

It was as Kain was trying to slip into the shadow of a stone pillar beneath one of the buttresses that the green light played upon the edifice in a way which made the Vampire pause. Revealed in the light of the ghost's lantern this buttress was no plain stone structure, but had been built in the shape of something. The base of the stone column was a curled tail around a set of foreclaws, rising up to an elongated body. Wings spread back and up alongside a long neck, framing out either side of a serpentine head with mouth agape and tongue extended. It was a shape he recognised very quickly, for the living version of this thing had been bathing him and his allies in elemental fury not long ago.

-0-

 **"Now all was clear in my mind. Vorador had told me of his escapades at the behest of the Seer. At her urging he had journeyed into the past and there had visited the fabled Lost City, an ancient place even then. That city he had discovered had been the centre of the first civilisation to ever grace Nosgoth, that of the Dragons. Thanatos' primeval race. I myself had once found a piece of the city during my wanderings as a fledgling Vampire, faded and forgotten and a den for degenerates. But this example was miraculously well preserved."**

-0-

Glancing back down the length of the vaulted chamber, Kain saw that this example was not alone. All the buttresses and their stone column supporters had been carved in the image of their makers, a long tunnel created by outstretched stone wings to welcome those who came into their great hall.

-0-

 **"So this was the fate of the first city built on Nosgoth's soil? Dragged down to sit upon Hell's rooftop? I had a grim suspicion about who or what had done such a thing."**

-0-

The revelation about exactly where he was was titanic enough to impell him to investigate with dogmatic enthusiasm, but despite its alluring call to him he placed it firmly to the back of his mind. He really did not have an academic's luxury at present. His top and only priority at this moment was to find a way out of this subterranean maze and back to the surface. Every moment he lingered here the climactic struggle with the Divus continued without him. This was a war he could not afford to miss.

The ghost was moving on now, coming to a large doorway set between two of the dragon buttresses. This doorway had suffered some damage, for it appeared remarkably blackened and crumbled, especially compared to the near pristine stonework all around it. The echoing footsteps continued to show the spectre's passage and Kain followed as silently as ever, slipping along under the compromised doorway after it.

The chamber beyond was not as large as the first but still colossal, a logical architectural need given the sheer physical size of the beings that built it. A great deal of this room had suffered damage, the entire left-hand side filled with large cracks and holes. A section of it at the far end had collapsed down, causing the floor to sink a couple of dozen feet to create a sharp incline which ran down to what looked to be the opening to a cave at the bottom, collapsed columns of ancient stone framing the passageway at either side.

It was the right-hand wall which immediately grabbed Kain's attention, for spread out over it in an elaborate, colorful display was a richly detailed set of mural pictures. Their colouration and extravagant design stopped him dead in his tracks. He could not help himself, their expansive display demanded empirically that he pay them heed.

Across the wall the elaborate mural was arranged in an inverted pyramid. In this triangle were a multitude of different figures in an intense variety of poses and positions. He recognised the Dragons easily enough for theirs was a unique, unmistakable shape. But these depicted winged entities seemed not to carry themselves with the same intelligence or dignity which he had seen Thanatos display. Rather in the central part of the image they were shown diving and swooping upon large beasts, tearing at them with their claws or summoning elemental fury to strike their prey down before feasting upon it ravenously.

Directly above this image the Dragons were shown raising their heads, eyes opening in obvious expressions of wonder and amazement as the dawn of their understanding began. Above them, twisting their way through a primeval sky were two colossal shapes. One was shaped like a serpent with the head of a whale. The other was a tangled mass of tendrils and feelers. Kain recognised those shapes easily enough, depictions of the two traveler gods which had come to Nosgoth when it was still young.

-0-

 **"It would seem the practice of storing historical and cultural information in the form of pictograms went back as far as the Dragons themselves, for here was a record of that first powerful race's early history. If these images were to be believed, at one time the Dragons had merely been animals. Mighty animals, to be certain, and apex predators, but still simple beasts. Then the travellers had come, falling from the depths of the universe beyond the sky's limit. By bathing in their essense, the Dragon's minds had awoken and they realized their strength."**

-0-

Ironically, Kain mused, the Dragons would pass that inheritance on to the races that they inadvertently created. Creation begetting creation and none of it intentional. He could not help but smile.

The image directly below the central one, at the very bottom of the inverted triangle, drew his eye for it seemed to reveal something new. It was a strange sort of image, divided down the middle between a white and black background. The dividing line between them had been depicted as a jagged, sparking torrent which like a waterfall poured forth a swirling mass. From this mass shapes were emerging, a strange collection of objects the likes of which baffled him for their variety of unearthly shapes. Some were strange beyond description while others were mere simple shapes like cubes or spheres.

Two of these shapes, however, he recognised. They were entwined amongst one another like conjoined twins fresh from the womb, but there was no mistaking the Keeper's elongated, serpentine body. The mass around him, tentacles clinging tight, could only be his opposite counterpart. They both looked very different in their infancy, with smaller, less defined traits, but it was definitely them.

-0-

 **"This image was particularly intriguing, for it revealed that the Dragons had known the ultimate origin of the two beings which had come to Nosgoth from so far away. The pictograms were symbolic, to be certain, but I recognised their expressive intent. I had seen the two voids in between which Fanum-Divus had once stood. Their union, the connecting of everything and nothing, was the EQUINOX. Or rather the first EQUINOX. If Raziel's information was correct, then the second was imminent."**

-0-

If this image did indeed show the creation of the two of them, then what were these other shapes pouring forth alongside them? Could these be other entities spawned when the first EQUINOX took place? Beings which had not yet found Nosgoth in amongst the expansive void of the universe? If the amount of them depicted here was any indication, and if the Dragons had not exaggerated the number for poetic license, then the Keeper and the Elder were but two a vast multitude.

-0-

 **"So this was the creation of my enemy, spawned from the unearthly meeting of Possibility and Negativity. This is how Gods were born?"**

-0-

Kain pursed his lips. He knew the entity which had maserquaded as his ancestors' oracle god was an enemy, and he certainly did not trust the Keeper. The idea of there being hundreds if not thousands of entities like them lurking out there in the dark depths beyond the sky was enough to make his blood run cold. In that instant, for all it had weathered throughout the degrading centuries, Nosgoth seemed small and fragile indeed.

The steady footsteps of the wandering ghost brought him back to the present and he turned, watching the spectre make its way down the sloping incline of the room. Kain chided himself for getting distracted. He might have easily lost track of the spectre in his study of the artwork despite his own resolve not to be. Strange, though, he suddenly thought to himself. He would have thought the ghost would have gotten farther ahead of him by now.

That puzzling thought led him to another one. A question which gave him fresh pause. Were ghosts able to cause footsteps as they walked? Or any noise for that matter, save that which they wished to? Quickly Kain looked down at the ghost's feet as it wandered down the room.

The dark robe the spectre was wearing did not come all the way down to the floor, hanging short just above the ankles. The feet were sandled and appeared to have withered skin as though they belonged to a Human of advanced years. It felt absurd to be staring at feet, even those of a ghost, but Kain kept his eyes locked on them.

Yes, he was sure of it now. As the ghost moved along it was making the sound of footsteps, but not in time with its actual steps. Each time a foot was put down, there was no sound at all. The echoing footstep noise came an instant later, swift enough that if one were not paying attention it would go unnoticed. The ghost was merely simulating the sound of footsteps. There could only be one reason why. It wanted to be followed.

Lips pulled back over his fangs in a snarl, Kain deliberately strode forward openly into the radius of the ghostly light. Reaching back over his shoulder he drew out the Soul Reaver and held it at arm's length. The spirit stopped instantly and sure enough, the sound of footsteps continued for several paces more despite that.

"I grow weary of being led around, spirit." The Vampire announced firmly as the ghost slowly turned around, the lantern it held up high. "Show yourself!"

The ghost simply stood there, the silence lengthening as the two of them regarded one another across the short distance. Kain held his ground, eyes locked onto the hollow recess of the hood where the outline of the face was only just visible. Finally the spirit shook its head in a forlorn, disappointed sort of way. It lowered the lantern to its side and raised its free hand toward him.

"Brash, arrogant, and filled with self-importance." An echoing voice remarked. A voice so acutely familiar that the sound of it froze Kain's very blood. It was a voice he could never forget. "You are just as I remember you."

The hand rose up higher and higher until took hold of the hood and pulled it back, revealing the face of the spirit. Kain's eyes widened as saw that face. A face he had thought he had finally put behind him. A face he had hated for centuries before and after the death of its owner.

"I do not know what amount of time has elapsed for you, Kain. But for me it has been the long, ever stretching road of eternity." Moebius the Time Streamer said, his ghostly face smiling at the Vampire in a weary sort of way. He raised his lantern again, the greenish eldritch light passing through his body like a seething mist.

"Hello, old friend." He said.


	13. Shades of Time

-0-

-0-

Kain stood there in what could only be described as a stunned state of paralysis, lowering the sword at his side until its point connected with the ground with a sharp echoing clanking sound. His eyes were wide in his face, lips pulled down to expose his fangs and his expression one of almost slack jawed baffled astonishment. Silently he gazed at the faintly luminous apparition before him, kept in that frozen state as time stretched out. The apparition stared back with an answering steady, expectant gaze.

-0-

 **"Moebius the Time Streamer. Moebius the meddler. Moebius the deceiver. Moebius the dead man."**

-0-

Stretching across the centuries, the legacy of Moebius could still be felt. It had been he who had orchestrated the first human uprising against Vampire kind. It had been he who had tricked Kain into traveling back in time to murder William the Just. It had been he who had taken advantage of William's death to galvanise the outraged masses. It had been this man, this scheming sorcerer, who had manipulated both Raziel and himself across the voyage of the timelines to accomplish the death of Janos Audron and Kain's own seeming downfall at Avernus Cathedral.

The last time Kain had seen the face of this man it had been just before his first confrontation with the false God, in the bowels of the Spirit forge. There he had found the old sorcerer, summoned to speak to his master and finally dispatched him from this mortal coil. But a few moments later his body had arise and acting purely on instinct, Kain had run the cadaver through only to realise a moment later it had been Raziel reanimating the corpse as a vessel. Too late to correct his mistake, he had been forced to watch as Raziel's soul had been drawn into the Reaver.

To face Moebius again, even his shade, was something which had no so much as crossed his mind. He had been so sure that finally he had seen the last of the ancient manipulator that he had been quite prepared to forget the repulsive man ever existed. Now that comfortable little mental bubble had been well and truly popped. Gazing at the flickering, insubstantial ghostly figure, the Emperor of Nosgoth felt all the bubbling resentment and bitter hatred come boiling back to the surface.

"I'd have thought you'd have something you say, after all this time, Kain." The ghost began, breaking the stretching silence at all, head tilting to one side speculatively. "You're not just going to stand there gawking at me, are you?"

The sound of that voice, that hated voice so often heard in mockery for his attempts to defy the machinations of time, broke the spell. Kain's face went flat with anger, the grip of his hand around the handle of the Reaver tightening and his lips pulling back in a snarl.

"By all the fires of Hell, can I never just be rid of you?!" The Vampire demanded with his angry voice echoing through the dark caverns around them. Moebius' spectre stood his ground, a smile tugging at the lips on that translucent face. It wasn't a smug, confident smile. The kind of smile Kain was all to used to on that face whenever the sorcerer had managed to pull one over on him. It was a very different kind of smile, a warm comforted smile. The kind of smile one would make at being greeted with something pleasant, or at the very least familiar.

"No, it would seem not." He agreed, his tone having a tinge of joviality to it. The ghost raised the lantern he carrier, its radiance seeming to brighten slightly and illuminate the cavern with greater strength. Pausing, he looked Kain over from head to toe in a very appraising way, before continuing. "I wonder, Kain. How long has it been for you since you saw me last? Judging from your familiar appearance, I doubt that long. But for me it has been an eternity, locked away in this dark place. I haven't seen the sun in centuries." The ghostly face turned then from joviality to bitterness so quickly it was as if a switch had been thrown, brows furrowing deeply."So congratulations Kain. You wanted to send me to Hell and this perpetual gloom seems Hell enough."

"Don't flatter yourself!" The Vampire simply snapped back, his sharp tone bouncing off the walls in the echo. "You deserve far worse than simply being lost in the dark!" Firmly he marched over, crossing the distance between them in an instant. Firmly he thrust his free hand directly forward, talons spread wide. It was a lunge which had it connected with actual flesh, would have ripped a human's face from its skull. Instead his arm passed right Moebius' head. He didn't even feel any resistance. It was like punching mist.

"You certainly seem dead." The Vampire admitted, sounding almost disappointed, with his face creased in a suspicious frown. When dealing with this man nothing was to be taken at face value.

Moebius' expression had become one of profound irritation, at both the statement and the attempt to validate his physical being.

"Thrice over I am dead." He stated with acrimony, the arm carrying the lantern aloft slowly lowering "First by your younger self, decapitated." Kain grinned slightly at the distant memory. It had been so many centuries ago now but that moment was quite vivid still. It had been shortly after he had witnessed Vorador's execution at Stahlberg. He had repaid the guillotining of the ancient Vampire by giving his executioner the same treatment.

"Once again when I was resurrected to meet my Master at the Citadel, only to meet you there again." Moebius continued and Kain found himself grinning all the wider, remembering the unconcealed expression of utter terrified bafflement on his enemies face when he had appeared after his supposed death.

"And a final time when Raziel was waiting for me when my spirit left my mortal form." The old ghost concluded with ancient, almost impotent bitterness. Kain had not been witness to that death, but given Raziel had almost immediately used the old man's corpse as a vessel to manifest he did not doubt the story. Grunting he sheathed the Soul Reaver back across his shoulder and then folded his arms over his chest, his brow brought down to knit into a supremely unimpressed and disdainful frown. For the moment at least it seemed as if this was indeed the spectre of the old time streamer.

"So then, is this your reward for so devotedly serving your God? To remain an eternal wanderer in this forgotten, black maze?" The Vampire asked, nodding to the cavern about them. Moebius' ghost image seemed to flinch and flicker like a reflection cast on the surface of disturbed water. Those pale luminous eyes reflected mixed and conflicting sides of ancient apathy and bitterness.

"My body was destroyed. You and Raziel saw to that." The ghost muttered and Kain could hear both resentment and tired resignation in his tone. He raised his arm with the lantern pulsing brightly with its ethereal, sickly glow. "I could not be resurrected again. The master could have sent my soul back into the wheel to be reincarnated somewhere amongst the masses, but instead He gave me a new purpose. I am the keeper of the Lost City. Carrying this spiritual flame before me, my task is to patrol and maintain this domain until the Master releases me from my duty." He spoke with the an attempt at gracious elegance and religious reverence, the kind of display Kain remembered him all too vividly for, one arm gesturing wildly to the dankness all about

However something was different about it. A great deal of the energy and force had been drained from the oration and the old man seemed lacklustre. He had the appearance, poise and manner of an actor who had played the same role on stage for too long. Staring at this ghostly image of a man who had been dead for centuries, attempting to carry on the same zest and passion he had had in his long lost life, inspired something in Kain that he never thought he'd feel towards Moebius. Something that when it's made its presence known filled him with reflexive anger.

But he simply could not help himself. No matter how angry he was about it, he could not deny that what Moebius inspired in him now was pity.

"Moebius; you were a repugnant, despicable worm of a man. You were devoid of even the merest shred of decency and honour." The Vampire began, eyes narrowed, staring directly into the image of the ghost's face. "But I never thought of you as stupid. Surely even you in your idolatry can see just how low he has brought you. Just how pathetic he has left you. You, once Guardian of the Pillar of Time. Now merely a groundskeeper."

Moebius straightened, his expression indignant but his eyes betrayed him. In those eyes Kain could see a bubbling cauldron of mixed emotions.

"My entire existence has been devoted to Him. It has been since I was a thirteen year old, scared little boy. The moment I accepted Him as my Master everything else was inconsequential." He replied harshly but then paused, taking a moment to collect himself. He raised his spectral lantern and held it at chest level. "But of course we really don't have the time for long conversation on my state of being. As you no doubt surmised, I was leading you somewhere and it's time we got going."

The abrupt switch of topic made Kain blink. His brows furrowed and he firmly stood his ground, feet firmly planted where he was.

"Why by all the demons of Hell would I go anywhere with you?" The Vampire asked bluntly. Moebius smiled again, regaining some of his smug superiority for a moment.

"Because you've been summoned. The Master wishes to speak with you." He replied with some amusement. Kain stared back, expression frozen as once more he was left frozen, not from shock this time but from sheer incredulous disbelief.

"Pardon?" Kain asked, his expression an unguarded display of confusion. Moebius continued to smile that familiarly oily smile.

"My God has requested your presence. I believe the term is a 'parley'." He said.

"He wants to bargain with me?!" Kain had trouble even grasping the idea of such a thing. If this were intended to be a trick or trap then it was a poor one. If intended as a joke then it was in very poor taste. But if this was real then clearly the false god had gone insane. Why would else would it be willing to conference with its enemy in the middle of a war? Especially a war that for the moment it was winning.

"I do not presume to guess His reason for the invitation." Moebius stated, stepping back and gesturing with his free hand down the passageway he had been leading them. The darkness was impenetrable beyond a few feet, a dark yawning mouth welcoming him to oblivion. "You have been summoned and you will come. It is as simple as that."

Kain glanced to the tunnel mouth, then back to Moebius and then to the tunnel again. His forehead ridges were raised in a frozen expression of disbelief for a long moment. Then slowly an answering smile began to tug at the corner of his mouth.

"And I am willing to wager the fact you've been reduced to ferrying invitations to me causes you pain the likes of which I can't even fathom." He said and instantly Moebius' expression turned sour. Kain's own smile broke then into an evil grin. "Well congratulations. You've managed to arouse my curiosity. And I suppose it is time I had a word or two with your Master. So by all means, little messenger, lead on."

Moebius glared at him with some measure of that smoldering hatred returning to his eyes, but then he turned sharply and started off again. Holding the lantern to illuminate the way before him, the spectre of the time guardian moved down the tunnel. Kain watched him go with a sly smile on his face before he stepped after him.

The tunnel lead down, an opening no more than a few feet wide at most created by a recess between two lodged pieces of fallen masonry. It twisted back and forth inregulary, rising and falling sharply before descending down a deep incline down further into the bowls of the earth. Kain could almost feel the weight of all the earth and rock about them pressing in the further they went. Moebius however lead on unerringly, holding his ghostly lantern aloft. Not once did the spectre hesitate, knowing his way with seeming infallible knowledge.

Presuming this wasn't some sick joke or trap, Kain found himself wondering just what set of circumstances could have forced his enemy, a being who considered itself divine and above all others, to request a parley. Perhaps the destruction of Fanum-Divus had been more of a blow to its plans then he had first thought? Where the Divus at some disadvantage that was not immediately clear? Or was this simply an attempt to waste his time for some other nefarious purpose?

And what was he to make of Moebius? His enemy, trapped in the ancient city, forced to be its custodian for all eternity; was certainly not the fate he had envisioned for him. And certainly not the fate he deserved. If Kain had had his way, Moebius would have been placed directly into the deepest, darkest and most depraved pit of Hell. There he would suffer untold agonies in payment for every Vampire he had slaughtered throughout his long and treacherous life.

"How long have I been in here?" The spectre suddenly asked as they came to the bottom of a inclined shaft, the tunnel opening up into another larger cavern. A long section of wall, unblemished from damage or tarnish, was spread across the far side. A bright collection of murals was spread out across that wall, their outline only vaguely seen in the ghostly lantern light. The air down here was stale and hung still, a putrid stench coming from somewhere down towards the left. A truly offensive, nose wrinkling odour.

Kain hesitated, startled by both the sudden sound in the silent darkness as well as the question itself.

"What?" He asked reflexively.

Moebius was looking at him with an intense, tight expression on his ghostly face. It was a look Kain had never seen him use before. There was fear there, but not fear of immediate physical harm but rather of the abstract. A fear of what the answer to the question might be.

"It's a simple question. How long has it been?" The spectre's voice was intent but around the edges it was coarse with fear.

The Vampire paused, regarding him with a furrowed brow.

"Do you truly not know?" He asked skeptically. The ghost gestured with an incline of his head to the shadowy caverns all about.

"There are no days, no nights, no months or years down here. Just one continual blackness. I exist in a perpetual state of 'now' that never ends." He replied and there in his voice was a weariness and stressed pain that came only from a being who had existed too long, deprived of all sustaining life and sensation. "Indulge me in this, Kain."

Kain was silent for perhaps an entire minute, staring at his enemy in the darkness of that forgotten ancient city.

"Over two thousand years." He finally replied in a very neutral, controlled voice. "The time of my Empire came and went."

Moebius had been a master of managing his expression, body language and tone of voice in his life. This skill, borne of long practise, had helped the old man to manipulate many people down the centuries. Kain had only ever seen his expression unguarded a small handful of times, during rare moments of great shock. When confronted by the uniquely unexpected, Moebius' mask fell away and his true feelings were exposed. This was one of those times. The Vampire's statement caused the spectre of the old man to visible recoil, rearing back with eyes widening in startled dismay.

"I've been down here two millennia?" The ghost demanded in a hoarse voice, the lines of his translucent face going taut.

"Probably closer to three." Kain admitted glibly, watching the spectre of his old enemy with curiosity.

Moebius stared at him with so naked a look of stunned panic that it was clearly sincere. Kain could see not so much hint of deception. The old man was like an open book and every chapter of that book spoke of paranoia, fear, hopelessness and dread. Gone was the zeal and the self righteous determination. Any sign of that was simply part of the mask, an illusion meant to convince others and himself he was still the same passionate man he had once been. The feeling of pity swelled up unbidden once more in Kain's breast at the sight of all this. Firmly he forced it back down.

"No that can't be…" Moebius was muttered to himself, lowering the lantern causing the shadows all about to lengthen ominously. "It has been long but THAT long?" Kain could see him working the incredibly possibilities through his mind as the expression on his face morphed as slow as the flow of treacle. "Impossible!"

The Vampire simple shrugged at the accusation, indifferent to it. His expression however was impish and impudent.

"The Time Guardian losing track of time?" He asked, a wry grin parting his lips. "And I thought you were slipping badly before."

Moebius opened and shut his mouth several times not unlike a gasping fish. His eyes were wide with all sorts of emotions as he struggled to deal with the concept of existing in this dark prison for that long. Clearly he had not perceived the passage of time correctly, or perhaps his mind had forced itself to forget whole passages of time in order to save its own sanity.

"I cannot accept that…" The ghost muttered, his shoulder slumping. His words were denial but his tone and body language spoke of weary, reluctant acceptance of an unpleasant truth. Kain grunted and gestured dismissively with one hand,

"Yours is hardly the worst of fates, Moebius." He pointed out sternly. "Have you spent eternity trapped inside a weapon and treated like an object? No. Have you been condemned to eternal unlife with the fate of Nosgoth on your shoulders? No. Have you been forced to watch as your kind were all destroyed one by one before you yourself are dragged to a guillotine? No. These were all fates that you helped push on others." His tone was scolding, his glare fierce. "So perhaps you might gain some perspective and cease complaining."

Moebius glared right back, his ghostly form stiffening with angry indignation for the listed examples. Their gazes met with clashing hostility, the air between them seeming to spark with the colliding cold rages. Finally Kain smirked and turned away, stepping down the rest of the incline to the base of the new tunnel

"Besides, you at least have a wealth of enthralling ancient artwork upon which to feast your ghostly eyes." He announced, gesturing up towards the mural spread across the wall.

The image spread out before him, just visible in the soft glow of Moebius' spectral lantern, was a wide expanse of complex coloration. Unlike the murals of the Ancient Vampires or even the Hylden, the Dragons literally baked colour into the wall so the stone itself changed its aspect to suit the image.

Depicted before him were two large masses to both right and left. On the right he recognised the sprawling, hideous mass that was the Dragon's depiction of his ultimate enemy. To the left was a curling snake like creature which looped about itself several times, sprouting green flippers either side of its body before ending in a massive tusked head with five symmetrically arranged eyes. This also he recognised, for he had seen the Keeper's gargantuan serpent like form before. Two gods, each opposing the other.

Between the two of them was a large blue circle and upon that circle, shown in green, were land masses which Kain recognised easily enough as the coastline of Nosgoth. Although there were differences from this image and most modern maps. There was a lot more land in the south west here, a long curving peninsula which landed out from the south coast before turning eastward. No doubt when this image had been made it had been quite accurate, but changes due to various natural phenomenon such as earthquakes and floods had changed the land since. No doubt this peninsula was the origin of the islets upon which the Hylden had constructed their city and gateway, eons ago now.

Each God was shown reacting to the world before them in different ways. His enemy was shown spreading massive curving tentacles forward like an outreaching hand, threatening to grasp the entire planet as if it were a simple child's ball. The Keeper however was facing him with mouth open and tusks lower, curling one loop of its body around the world protectively. Each one coveted the world they had discovered, each one turning on their travelling companion when they finally had the ultimate prize before them. Neither could learn to share. Was one more altruistic than the other? Kain honestly could not say.

Directly below this ancient depiction of Nosgoth was shown the image of a Dragon. Kain recognised the form easily enough from his conflicts with Thanatos. It sat on its haunches with neck and head raised high and wings extended like the sails of a ship. The creature seemed to be basking in radiant light emitted by the two God like beings, soaking it up and absorbing it into its body. Its eyes were open wide, a sparking with energy and from its open maw came forth a thick torrent of flames which joined with the Keeper's coiled and encircled the entire world of Nosgoth in a vibrant halo.

The events depicted were easy enough to decipher for Kain had heard the tale already from the shade of Kothar itself. Shown here was a artistic representation of the origin of the Dragon race itself, for before the arrival of these entities upon Nosgoth they had been little more than powerful animals. Then, after bathing in the energies radiated by the new arrivals, their minds and powers had expanded until they became the great race of Uni; as they called themselves. The image showed that moment as epic in scope, an awakening to possibilities and the understanding of their power they wielded.

"I find no entertainment value in primitive scribbles made by winged beasts too powerful and arrogant for their own good." Moebius said however, grunting in dismissive annoyance.

"Nonsense." Kain scoffed, turning back to him. "I cannot believe, even for a moment, that you would not have intensely studied every scrap of informative mural throughout this labyrinth. Especially if you've been here for so long." When Moebius did not immediately respond, the Vampire turned back to face the mural "The first race of Nosgoth. Predating Humans, Vampires and Hylden alike. Were you never tempted to use your various streaming devices to peer back through time to witness their age?"

"My master forbade me from doing so." Moebius stated, so dour and reluctantly that it sounded like he was chewing on his own tongue while speaking.

"Because of course he did." Kain chuckled, almost to himself.

"Theirs was an age of barbarity, cruelty, savagery and chaos." The time streamer went on darkly, not even raising his head to look at the image. "It was before the coming of divine purpose and order. It is a chapter of this world best left forgotten."

Kain laughed in response to this. "And you know this, how?" He asked skeptical and with high amusement. Moebius straightened.

"The master told me all I needed to know about them. His design is all I needed to concern myself with." The ghost of the old man replied and in his voice was a mere reflection of the zeal he had once had. It was shallow and without the venomous bite it had once possessed. Kain shook his head slowly and turned away from the mural.

"Oh you haven't changed at all, have you?" He remarked, walking towards the ghostly old figure. Moebius stood his ground, features indignant.

"I am who I am." He said.

"As am I." Kain walked up to him and then without pausing stepped right through the ghostly form as if it were mist; striding without pause towards the dark end of the tunnel from which came the increasing offensive smell. Now he was close the Vampire could feel a strange sensation coming from down that tunnel, a sense of pressure as if the air itself was bearing a weight being pressed down upon it from above.

"As long as we both understand that." Moebius fumed, looking irritated was his personal space was so casually violated.

The dark tunnel yawned ahead of them and from the depths of the concealing shadows the smell was overpowering. It was like the stench of open infected sores all full of puss only many times more acute. It was the smell of rot, of unhealthy flesh, the miasma given off by the body as it tried desperate to fight off an invading disease. The air itself tightened like a muscle, seeming to vibrate like a taught ready spring.

"Here...the master awaits." Kain's ghostly guide stated with grim finality, raising his lantern to illuminate the shadows and reveal that a short ways ahead there was a large stone doorway set on its side. It was a plain door with its only elaborate piece being a handle delicate carved out of iron to resemble a serpent curled about and biting its own tail. In proportion the handle was intended for use by a creature many times their size and as such as so large that its ring was larger than Kain's entire torso.

The Vampire paused, staring at that colossal door before he smiled darkly.

"Well then, let's not keep him waiting."


	14. The very core of a nightmare

-0-

-0-

The large door before him, plain as it was, was proportioned not for a being the size of a man but for creatures much larger. Creatures capable of exerting sheer force with the simple use of one colossal paw, or even simply willing it to open with the use of their immense elemental power. Its sheer mass and size made it a barrier that no normal man would be able to pass. Getting such a door open was not as simple as merely reaching out a turning a handle.

After a moment to consider the obstacle, Kain stepped forward and set his shoulder against the side of the stone surface. With a grunt he began to exert himself, straining with every ounce of strength he could call up. Centuries of evolution had granted to him physical strength far beyond that of a mortal man but even that reserve was tested in forcing the door to even acknowledge his presence.

The barrier gave way with the greatest reluctance, grudging shifting bit by bit and groaning in deep protest. Its movement dislodged the settled ancient dust, which puffed out in thick angry clouds with each motion. The tunnel was soon filled with a miasma of dust floating in the air like a swarm of enraged insects. Kain paid it no head and kept on pushing, each step forcing the door open an inch more.

Finally the door seemed to concede to his persistence and it gave way in one sudden unexpected motion. With his full strength pushed into it, Kain forced the door open firmly and slammed outward with a colossal boom. The vibration of it shook the very ground upon which he stood, fragments of dust falling down from the tunnel ceiling above. The sounds of rocks, having been settled against each other quite comfortably for countless eons, now subjected to tremors came from somewhere about. An angry murmuring protest.

Unaffected by the dust, the ghost of Moebius stepped forward past Kain and into the chamber beyond. The old man's expression had turned suddenly very grim, lips pursed and eyes turned downward toward the floor. He still carried before him his strange ghostly lantern however and as he stepped into the new open space, he raised it up and high above his head. After a moment that lantern began to increase its ethereal radiance, waxing brighter until it's light filled out the cavern completely.

Kain took one look at what lay inside of this place and recoiled, his face dissolving into an unguarded expression of utter and complete shock.

* * *

 **"As my life grew century upon century, my mind and soul were fortified against the bizarre and macabre. Time had numbed me to the effects of the disgustingly perverse. I thought myself hardened against all manner of shock. As I stepped into that hidden and ancient chamber however, I became suddenly and acutely aware that I knew nothing of horror. I was once again a helpless child staring into the dark abyss, confronted with a nightmare I simple could not face. Here at last I faced the core of my enemy."**

* * *

The chamber was a colossal gash, a carved valley which curved around a central pillar of rock to form a half circle. This open space was immense, perhaps several hundred feet wide at its largest and was so deep that even Moebius' lantern could not illuminate all of its curving floor. The teeth like spires of stalactites and stalagmites lanced up and down at regular intervals from the floor and ceiling, some mo more than a few meters tall and others towering like like cathedral spires. Their jagged placement gave the chamber the look of a great maw, the jaws of a leviathan so large it could take a bite out of the entire world.

But it was not the chamber's size nor its ominous shape which caused Kain to blanch and hesitate, frozen in place. Covering everything before him, across every wall, every floor and every ceiling was an expanse of immense green flesh. It was an ending field of sickly looking growths, latched onto and around surfaces like a fungal growth or moss. The growths were bulging, irregular and blotchy, undulating and pulsing with disgusting potency. Beneath their diseased looking surface veins and arteries were clearly visible; some no bigger than those of a human but others as thick as Kain's own wrist.

Eyes. Everywhere there were eyes. They seemed to appear at random, spawning out of the flesh all about; forming as if manifesting from just below the skin. The eyes were all different sized and they had no limit on how small or how large they could be, some as small as a fingertip and others loomed so large the rivaled Thanatos himself for sheer mass. They were all a deep luminescent blue with that same elongated dark pupil in the centre which shifted, stretching or shrinking as the eye needed to focus.

Thick tentacles slid like colossal snakes through the horrific mass, a writhing never ceasing sea of wormy movement which heaved and boiled, undulating disgustingly. The sounds coming from the scene before him were awful, a horrible wet slathering accompanied by a grinding as those worm like tentacles pushed aside the rock and stone. The squelching sound came from the fleshy growth itself accompanied by a smell so acrid that it stunk in the nose and tortured the eyes.

Kain had seen the form of his ultimate enemy before but this utter abominable center left him aghast.

"What fresh hell is this..." The Vampire gasped, his stunned gaze running over the sickly panorama. Moebius did not answer. His gaze was directly up at the lantern he was carrying, firmly fixed on its glow and not even acknowledging the hideous scene. For a moment it looked as if he were listening to something Kain could not hear, head tilting to one side briefly.

"The Master awaits you." The ghost of the old man finally replied, half turning to look back over one shoulder. His expression was fixed and unguardedly neutral, as if he had divorced himself from all emotion. He raised a hand and pointed down into the valley of hideous disease with his free hand. Kain stared at him with open incredulousness.

"This is your master!?" The Vampire demanded, voice taut with his struggle to take this abomination in. "This...this thing!?" Moebius made no reply but met Kain's eye with a steady gaze. Kain however was not perturbed. "This is what you sold your soul to? That you murdered countless Vampires to serve?" The Vampire moved forward and then past the spirit, standing at the edge of the unhealthy expanse of writhing flesh. "This is what you help drench the world in blood for?! It's nothing more than a colossal tumor! After so long, even YOU must see that now!"

Their eyes met again and in that moment, staring in the ghostly eyes of the old dead Time Guardian; Kain saw that Moebius was not blind. He saw everything that Kain saw. Perhaps even more. His gaze was directed towards anything by the horror laid out before them, as if he were willing himself not to see.

"He awaits you." The ghost said with emphasis, jabbing his finger down into the center of that underground valley. Before Kain could say anything more, the flesh before them shuddered as if it had been roused from dormancy. Dozens, hundreds of eyes of various sizes opened at once like a field of blooming flowers and rotated around to look directly at them. One especially large eye opened directly above them, shuddering two large eyelids made out of rock out of the way with a crack and boom of colliding stone. The air about them changed, the sense of pressure increasing dramatically, as if a sudden heavy weight had been pressed down upon it from above.

"Indeed I do, Kain." That familiar voice said, an echoing and disdainful sound rolled through the ground itself. Kain turned sharply back towards the valley, watching as thick tentacles shifted and slithered about. A quick flurry of activity taking place in the dark shadows before rocks began to rise up, irregularly shapes platforms pushed into place by many tentacles. A path opened up before him, a bridge suspended and kept strong by the support of slippery twisting limbs.

"Come… for we have much to discuss." That voice called to him as the bridge emerged, stone after stone rising up all laid out in a path going down into the depths of the valley.

Kain stared out along the bridge as it formed, his expression tightening into a deeply sour grimace. Reaching back over his shoulder he drew the Reaver and held the serpentine blade at his side, fist clenched tight about the hilt, before he took the first step and began down the laid out path before him. Moebius followed instantly, holding his lantern aloft to light the way.

It was a march through hell. Kain steeled himself to avoid the instinctive urge to wretch as he walked through that valley of flesh, hundreds of blue luminous eyes watching his every movement and following his progress. It revolted him to think that without Raziel's gift, the purifying Spiritual energy infused through his being, he would not able to see this horror. It would be a danger that was simply invisible, capable of striking him down without any warning. Being aware of the peril however, replaced the risk of physical harm with grim horror at the pestilential growths all about.

As they made their way deeper into that valley, Kain began to see more evidence of the Dragon's city here and there. Broken pillars jutted out from the side of a wall of flesh, a section of uncovered stone revealed detailed patterns before being swallowed up once more by the growths. Massive clumps of stone were embedded in the ground, some of it forming the bridge upon which he was walking. Judging by exactly how much debris had been scattered about, the Vampire judged he was walking through the remains of some kind of colossal cathedral like chamber. The structure had long ago completely collapsed into a far more natural cavern and his enemy's body had spread over the resulting rubble.

The path led on and on, deeper and deeper into this slopping valley before finally it reached the far end, a large grove cloaked in the shadow of a looking overhang of stone . Before they got to this point however, Moebius stopped following and merely stood there; his ghostly form still holding his lantern aloft. His expression was neutral but the tightness about his eyes was palpable. As Kain turned to regard him, he saw an easily recognisable emotion in those eyes. An emotion he had seen many times before; simple, basic, instinctive, fear. The two of them exchange glanced for a prolonged moment, before the Vampire turned and walked on into the grotto alone.

Faced with what lay within, this time Kain really did wretch.

* * *

 **"So here at last was the fabled Celestial Arrow I had heard so much about. The weapon created by Nosgoth's first race as their means of striking back against the cancerous invader from the inky void beyond the stars. Now that weapon lay wrapped in disease, coated in tumours, imprisoned in the belly of the very beast it had been intended to kill."**

* * *

Vorador's description of the artefact, a colossal pyramid made of a calcified unknown white material of elemental potency, made it clear that was what he perceived. It loomed before him and from its immense presence he could feel emanating from it was so palpable and strong it was like he had walked into a wall of water. It was every bit the powerful artefact both Vorador and the Seer had made it out to be. Shear elemental spiritual energy condensed into physical form.

It had been this bizarre artefact that the Seer had sent Vorador back in time to find leading him, according to the story, to get involved early military campaigns of William the Just. That quest had been the only blunder in the Seer's carefully laid out campaign, unleashing the one thing that actually scared her; Thanatos, the last living Dragon. Under any other circumstances Kain might have felt reverence, awe or wonder at the sight of such a creation.

But as he peered up at its towering immensity Kain felt only revulsion, for wrapped about this once pristine construction was a smiley mass of slippery, pulsating, stretched rubbery flesh. It was a single mammoth organ, a lopsided sack like a balloon expanding and contracting over and around the Arrow. It was a hideous thing, lobed like a brain but pumping like a heart; the functions of two organs together as one. Thick black veins lanced out of it at regular intervals. Like the threads of a spider's web with the organ at its centre, the veins spread out across the roof of the grotto and vanished into uncounted numbers of hidden holes and crevices. As the organ itself beat, pulses of blue radiance were pushed down those veins and as they passed by Kain could almost swear he could hear agonised human screams. There was no blood in those black pipes he realized, but rather the pulped souls of those that passed on, feeding this entity and turn its horrendous wheel.

"I bid you welcome Kain." His enemy greeted him and the Vampire stood a step back in dismay as part of the organ's pulsing parted, flesh pushing to either side, as a thick bulging eyeball emerged and rotated down to look at him; dripping a foul smelling liquid to splatter on the uneven floor. "It was only a matter of time before I would converse with you, here."

"Good Lord..." Kain breathed shallowly, eyes wide and lips drawn back over his exposed fangs in an expression of distaste. "And here I thought I'd seen all there was to see of your disgusting form."

The eye rotated in its temporary squishy socket, focusing on him.

"No living being can behold all of me, Vampire." That deep echoing voice said and it seemed as if the beating of that hideous organ intensified the sound of the words. "I am beyond your lowly perceptions. You see only what I permit you to see. That is all any one is allowed to perceive of my glory."

The use of such a word as 'glory' made Kain peer about this hideous grotto with one eye narrowed in incredulity, his lips pressed together in a disgusted sneer. A second glance brought his attention up to the top of the organ, where it jointed the apex of the Celestial Arrow's tip. At this towering point was a large round opening. It was only when it quivered and convulsed that Kain realized it for a mouth, a gaping suckling orifice which parted to reveal four curving interlocking fangs.

The mouth gaped wide open and into its suckling depths a luminous torrent was being funnelled, a swirling vortex of lights which tumbled all around each other so rapidly it was like the flow of water. Kain had not seen such things very often and whenever he had it had only been for a single instant, whenever he had swung the Reaver. When his blade had killed an opponent and claimed the fleeing soul, the spirit had been visible for a fraction of a second. At first Kain had thought such manifestations to mere expressions of the swords magic, but as his understanding of the blade had grown he came to understand the true importance of what he was seeing.

With that understanding Kain could appreciate the full hideousness of the scene before him. He was seeing countless souls, freed from the flesh of their bodies, pouring in to feed this monstrous creature. Here, for the first time, he was seeing the Wheel of Fate in its fully manifest form; a swirling unending torrent of harvested souls, all being poured into the mouth of an every hungry predator which would strip them of all their energies before sending them back to repeat the cycle. The sight of it before him made his stomach turn in ways he did not think possible.

"I suppose then I ought to feel honoured." The Vampire said with heavy sarcasm, his grip on his sword tightening.

"You should." His enemy replied, ignoring the sarcasm. "For only Moebius, tried and tested and loyal to the last, has been permitted to see my Nucleus before you."

"Nucleus?" Kain quickly repeated, his eyes narrowing sharply. The eye set into that massive organ widened out, the pupil dilating disgustingly.

"Before you Kain, you see the very heart of me. The great centre from which I grow and from which all life on Nosgoth in turn originates." That great voice stated in thundering pride, the beating throbbing and pulsing the air about it through a great vibration. "Behold, Kain. The Heart of the World!"

Kain's next action required no conscious decision to implement. Instinct took over and he was moving before his mind could even be aware of it. He took hold of the Reaver in both hands and lunged, throwing himself with all the strength he could muster forward and thrusting his sword towards that offensive sight. The only impulse in his mind in that instant was to rid his sight of that monstrous entity, to finally rend its heart and kill the thing once and for all.

But the Reaver never made contact. Before the tip of the serpentine blade could come within reach of the pulsing organ it slammed into a barrier, an invisible obstacle which turned the attack aside with ease. For a moment Kain saw before him a swirling wall of intermingled souls, energies taken from the beast's feedings used to form a barrier their pain, agony and anguish. Such a terrible force crashed against the Reaver's attack and in that contest the sword had been found wanting.

A tree trunk thick tentacle twisted like a snake out of the shadows in response. It arched around swiftly and smacked the Vampire away, a contemptuous slap which knocked Kain back through the air until he landed with a crash on the rocky floor. The impact left the Vampire stunned, his body pulsing with waves of nausea.

"Did you truly believe I would invite you here, reveal my nucleus to you, without some means of holding your fury at bay? Of keeping that wretched sword of yours from striking my form?" The False God demanded contemptuously, holding the tentacle over him threateningly as the Emperor of Nosgoth heaved himself back to his feet. "Naive fool."

Kain shook his head, trying to clear his blurred sight. When it finally cleared he saw that standing between him and his enemy's core was a shimmering wall of twisting white shapes. He could make out faces in those shapes, features of Humans and Vampires alike all contorted in agony like the vortex above; all in pain but here it was almost as if he could hear the cries of anguish coming from each one of them. A soft chorus of screams which lingered just beyond his range of hearing.

"What manner of barrier is this?" Kain growled, still holding the Reaver out before him in a grip which wavered despite himself. The eye set into that repulsive organ narrowed its pupil at him in a way that suggested amusement and pride.

"While my power is great across all of Nosgoth, it is far more so in this place." It said. "Here, in this sacred Heart Chamber, the energies of the Wheel are mine to command in ways you could not imagine." The tentacle which had struck him began to slide back into the crevice from which it had come, retreating with an oozing wet suckling sound. "Be thankful that at this moment, I choose to exercise these powers merely defensively."

Kain's eyes darted about, seeing a means of bypassing this obstacle. But the barrier was a firm wall between him and his enemy, with no means of entry or at least none immediately visible. He pursed his lips in disappointment.

"You've made your point, monster." He grudgingly began, before turning to look up at that singla large eye. "Now, why am I here? Why is it suddenly important we talk? I would have thought us past casual conversation."

"And if the current circumstances were different, I would agree with you." The entity replied with some scorn. There was a pause before it went on, with some reluctance. "However, you have caused the destruction of Fanum-Divus. The sacred unassailable city of my elite followers. This, I confess, I did not foresee."

Kain narrowed his eyes at his enemy, even as the visualization of its protective barrier faded back into invisibility. He was certain it was still there however.

"Are you admitting fault?" The Vampire asked, the corner of his lip curling upward. The eye before him narrowed its pupil so much it became a thin vertical slit.

"I am admitting that you have made more inroads in being a disruptive force then I initially gave you credit for, Kain." The voice addressing him sounded almost as if it came from between clenched teeth. "So much so that you and those who follow you, Raziel, Vorador and now even Janos Audron, have the potential to disrupt the great work the Divus have been building towards for many millennia. This cannot be allowed."

Kain let the tip of the Reaver descend to the floor, his face fixed in a sneer of contempt for such words.

"Your great work would see Nosgoth left a barren lifeless husk, unable to sustain even the most primitive form of life." He replied coldly, before pointing with his free hand. "You claim to be the creator and origin of life itself and yet you're prepared to destroy it all to achieve your goal. Of course we'd want to stop you."

High above that beaked mouth click as the teeth ground against one another and then expanded wider open, almost like a hiccup. The eye rotated around in its formed socket, making a wet slurping sound.

"The loss of Nosgoth is indeed a great sacrifice, but one I was prepared to make in order for my glory to be felt throughout the stars. Surely you are no stranger to the concept of a necessary evil?"

Kain's nostrils flared and his eyes bulged, his grip on the Reaver's handle tightened reflexively.

"You don't have the right to…" He began with indignation but he was cut off.

"However, I can be amenable. Open to negotiation." His enemy interjected, its large eye dilating its pupil once more. "You desire is to 'save' Nosgoth and rid this land of me? Is that not your goal?"

Kain opened and shut his mouth twice, robbed of the momentum of the righteous denunciation he had been about to embark upon.

"Of course it is." He said simply.

The large aquatic eye seemed to lean forward, as if projecting itself several feet out of its wet socket.

"Then I will grant you this."

Those five simple words erased Kain's entire sense of indignation, even dispelling the disgust he felt to be surrounded by so much hideous growth.

"What?" The word came out in a simple, foolish tone of bafflement. The eye leaned in closer, pupil widening until the eye was almost completely black.

"I am prepared to give you everything you want, Vampire." His enemy told him in a very blunt voice. "Nosgoth will be yours to do with as you wish and I will be gone, forever."

Aghast and frozen in place, Kain blinked several times before shaking his head in order to recenter himself

"Do you take me for an imbecile?!" He demanded, voice fraught with incredulity and utter scorn.

"I take you for many things, Kain." The entity replied with some mirth in its tone. "And one of them is desperate."

There was a pause and as Kain watched, the image of the Divus' ship shimmered into view in the inky blackness of that large pupil. The ship raised itself up through the skies of Nosgoth and out amongst the blinking constellations of the night sky, a powerful golden glow surrounding it.

"It will be of considerable risk to my ship, but if you tell your little alliance to stand down and move aside, I will launch the Ark into the black void beyond the stars. The great ship will absorb the destructive energies of the Equinox and Nosgoth will be spared its ravages. I will then take my followers and leave, departing Nosgoth never to return. This is a concession I am willing to make."

The large eye blinked and the image vanished, allowing Kain to see his own perplexed expression reflected back at him.

"So little Vampire….what say you?"


	15. What say you?

-0-

-0-

"What say I?" Kain repeated dumbly as he stared deep into the distorted reflection he cast in that grotesque, monstrous eye. His image warped across its convex, gelatinous and undulating surface. His mind struggled to process the absurd predicament in which he found himself. Nothing which had been said to him connected logically and he fought with considerable effort to react with any semblance of rationality. The Vampire shook his head to bring himself back to conversation and his brow furrowed.

"What in all the depraved depths of the cosmos could you possibly expect me to say?" He demanded, lips pulled back in a snarl as he looked firmly into the gaze from that colossal eye. "After everything that has happened, everything you have put me and this world through, you expect me to believe a single word you utter?!" Anger at the sheer audacity of this divinity clad parasite made his voice quaver.

Before him, the eye blinked in its horizontal fashion with the pupil narrowing to a near indistinguishable dark slit.

"No, I would imagine not." The echoing voice replied with a rumble of amusement, seemingly entertained by Kain's display of obvious incredulity. "At least not without proof of my sincerity. A token of goodwill, if it pleases you."

The suggestion hung in the putrid air as the silence lengthened. Kain pursed his lips tightly together, his grip on the hilt of the Reaver strengthening so much that the blade twitched and wavered in his grasp, its tip clinking off the cavern floor. There was no way this could be anything more than some twisted attempted to mislead him and that was the best case scenario he could think of. But despite all the doubt and scepticism that flared through him, one small voice wondered if there was a chance, however small, of this being genuine.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this absurd, ludicrous negotiation." He growled, more angry at himself this moment than anything else. With his fangs exposed, Kain glared into his enemy's waiting stare. "Alright demon, I'll play your game!" The Vampire snapped and raised his free hand to point a talon forward. "If you want to prove to me that you are indeed sincere, then answer me this…Your new angel of death, this mutation you have forced upon Asmodeus, the one who now calls himself Abaddon; what is the source of his strength?"

It was a calculated move on his part to ask such a thing. If this was indeed some sort of trick, then the information would prove invaluable in dealing with a powerful opponent. There was of course the chance that his monstrous enemy might lie to him, but it would at least keep him talking and so long as he talked Kain felt he might be able to gleam relevant accurate information out of him.

The large eye rolled off to one side as if glancing away with some disdain.

"And what makes you think I did not simply grant him such power directly?" The false God asked as several tentacles slathering up the sides of the walls either side of the pulsating nucleus. His voice had a slight injured tone to it, as if taking offense at the suggestion that he was not the source of his agent's might.

"Because if you could grant such power, you'd have given it to Raziel when you first set him upon me, to ensure his quick and easy victory while you still have sway over him." Kain scowled back, gesturing dismissively with his hand. "This Abaddon was strong enough to withstand attacks from Raziel, Ajatar and myself all at once. So clearly he has an advantage that the wraith on our side does not."

The eye rolled about in its fleshy socket for a moment, gazing up at the swirling tempest of souls being fed into the toothed maw above before it slowly rotated to look squarely at him. It's twined pupil widened out and once more Kain could see his distorted reflection in its pitch blackness.

"Perceptive." That deep echoing voice conceded grudgingly, the eye glaring at him with evident annoyance. Kain stared right back with equal spite.

"Well?" He asked, waiting. Silence endured for another few prolonged moments before the eye blinked again.

"Asmodeus was a talented agent and an asset to the Divus. But his ambition and jealousy of his monarch finally pushed him into recklessness that put the grand design in jeopardy. It was his ego that gave you the opportunity to destroy Fanum-Divus. He became far more of a burden than I could tolerate." The false God began finally. "I needed his drive and skills but not his impulsiveness. Quite a conundrum."

Kain stepped back quickly as two large tentacles rose up either side of the rocky platform on which he stood. The tentacles slipped up and then curled about each other forming a circle of slithering green flesh in mid air. In the centre of this circle the air simmered and changed, a hazy image forming, wavering like ripples disturbing the surface of still water. Kain kept the Reaver tightly at his gaze as he watched, brow furrowed.

The image showed Asmodeus as Kain had known him before his change, a blue skinned ancient Vampire but one who had been spared affliction by the Dark gift of the Hylden. He was on his knees, his body battered, scarred and bloodied. Behind him his wings were a bloody wreck, draped uselessly on the floor. The crown of Fanum-Divus he had worn so proudly gone and all his finery reduced to blood soaked rags. All about him stood a crowd of Divus, all recognisable due to their diversity of species and the archaic robes they wore. It was the picture of one being judged by his peers and being found wanting.

Asmodeus' image raised himself up, hands raised imploringly and an expression of untold fear on his bloodied face. Kain knew that expression all too well. It was the face of one about to beg for mercy. But before a sound could escape Asmodeus' lips, the broken Divus was engulfed by a blinding light. What emerged then from his mouth were no words but instead a hideous terrified scream.

"So I rebuilt him. I took all of his useful qualities and discarded the unwanted neurosis. I molded Abaddon from the clay of Asmodeus." The voice of his enemy continued as the narrative unfolded. To watch as Asmodeus was 'remolded' was not a pleasant experience, even for one as hardened to the macabre as Kain. Bones were shifted, organs were pulped, muscle and skin rewoven like cotton into a tapestry. But this was a change that was not simply physical. The screams coming from Asmodeus was his very form and soul were twisted about changed in pitch and volume almost constantly, before being sharply muffled as the change reached its climax.

"And the heart of this new being, I placed a shard of this ancient weapon." Kain leaned forward with sudden interest, watching as something in this image was being guided towards the chest of the now newly formed Abaddon. It was a jagged object of irregular outline, about the size of a large penny. It flowed towards Abaddon and sank without any seeming resistance into his chest to take up residence in his heart.

It took a moment but Kain recognised that shard, the material it was made from. Quickly he glanced away from the image he was being shown and looked directly at the white pyramid over which the False God's nucleus grew like a cancer. It took the Vampire a few moments but sure enough he spotted it. A piece of material from the Celestial Arrow had been pried free, just below the large singular eye watching him, leaving a small but noticeable vacant hole.

"With this fragment of the Arrow, Abaddon can call upon powers the likes of which Raziel could only dream of. He commands the shades, finally a general who can use them like no other. His powers will continue to grow as his body adjusts to the presence of the fragment and his evolution reaches new heights." The False God continued in gloating exaltation, the image he showed revealing Abaddon emerging from the crucible of his own creation. With a gesture this new entity summoned the relentless horde of darkness Kain had fought with so recently and cloaked themselves in their seething mass like a shroud. "His potential is limitless!"

Kain scowled as the tentacles retracted with a disgusting wet squelching sound and the image vanished, leaving him glaring into that single giant eye which despite having no other facial features somehow managed to look smug.

"So the man who craves power is made a demigod, but is so remade in the process that his avaricious mind can not even enjoy it." Kain muttered grimly.

"Consider that his punishment for his hubris." The voice of his enemy replied with grim finality.

-0-

 **"If this would be God was indeed telling the truth then I had not yet seen the full extent of Abaddon's potential might. Disconcerting to be sure. Yet it begged the question; if Abaddon was only going to grow in power, why would a ceasefire and parlay even be contemplated?"**

-0-

If indeed the source of Abaddon's power was then shard of the Celestial arrow implanted into his heart, then logic dictated the best means of dispatching the seemingly invincible foe was to simply tear the organ out of him. Yet somehow Kain could not shake the feeling that such an obvious weak spot would not be as easy to exploit as he imagined. No doubt precautions had been taken to ensure its protection.

"And just where is Abaddon now?" The Vampire asked quickly, before his enemy could press the general topic of the conversation further. The colossal eye narrowed in a squint as it glared down at him.

"Even now, my new Angel fights for me." The false god said in reply and with no small amount of satisfaction. "He contends in constant struggle, clashing back and forth from realm to the other, with his predecessor."

It took a moment for Kain to realize exactly what or who was being referenced by the use of the word 'predecessor'. The battle he had been thrown from when he had wound up so deep underground was still going on. Abaddon and Raziel had not stopped fighting. No, of course they had not. Raziel would not rest, not for a moment, until he had wrested back Ariel's spirit from Abaddon's thieving clutches.

It was all a matter of endurance now. Which would win the war of attrition? Abaddon's strength or Raziel's will? Kain felt a little smile part his lips. If there was one creature through the entire cosmos with willpower to rival and even surpass his own, it was Raziel.

"Well then Kain, does this satisfy you?" The deep echoing voice asked into the lingering silence. Kain blinked, his smile fading and looking back up at his reflection in the curved eyeball.

"Let us say for now that it does and go on from there." He began in a very slow, deliberate tone of voice. "You've laid out what you propose. But what exactly do you expect me to do?"

The eyeball blinked twice in its disgusting horizontal fashion.

"Once our conversation here is finished, you will depart from this place and return to your little alliance." His enemy told him in harsh reply, his words echoing in the abyss of this colossal cavern several times. "You will tell them my terms and convince them that their only chance to save their world is to stand down and leave my ship unmolested. I in turn will command my Divus to form a defense perimeter around my ship and to hold that line until I am ready to depart. I will forbid them from launching any assaults upon you or your allies."

The twin tentacles surged up once more, again creating the ring in which formed the wavering illusion. This time it showed the gleaming vessel the Divus had constructed for their master, the twin swan like wings of the Ark's hull illuminated as if lit from below be heavenly light. It hung over the swirling vortex of the abyss where it had been when escaping from the collapsing city of Fanum-Divus. The ship had clearly been designed to invoke feelings of religious reverence and unstoppable divine power. Personally, Kain simply thought it was a gaudy eye sore.

"Then, when the Ark is ready to leave, I shall board her and venture forth. The Equinox will come and I shall shield this world from the worst ravages of its immense energies." His enemy went on and in the shown image, the ship rose up and ascended into the star lit heavens, slowly rising until was no more than a dot in the sky. Then it was gone entirely. "Afterward, Nosgoth will be left to you and your ilk. Save it, squander it, fight over it; at this point I care not."

Kain listened to it all with a steady, deep frown. All of this was very easy to say but it might prove a far more difficult challenge to actually manifest this set of circumstances.

"Consider your position rationally, Kain." The booming voice went on as the tentacles separated once more and rolled undulating either side of the looming, wet eyeball. "Do you imagine that if you were facing another general whose forces outmatched yours, they would make so generous an offer?"

And there, Kain was forced to admit albiet it with immense bitterness, his enemy had a point.

"No. No they would not." He conceded flatly. Any half competent military commander with such an overwhelming numerical advantage would not even consider an offer of truce. They would press the attack and squash the enemy. An enemy destroyed was far safer than an enemy at a negotiation table.

"Then do what you know you must." The eye before him loomed in its fleshy socket before seeming to retract, sucked back in with a skin crawling wet sound. "Unfortunately, until such time as you command your forces to stand down I can not tell my own to do the same. The risk to the Ark is too great. So if my offer is to be taken up, you must make the first move."

Kain pressed his lips firmly together at that. That he expected. If there was to be a truce, then he would have to be the one to lower his weapons first. That was always the problem with truces. Someone had to put down his weapon before the other and that always left them open to an attack. Although he somehow doubted that was was his enemy had in mind. It was simply too obvious a ploy.

"What assurance do I have that you will honour your word if I do?" He asked anyway, prolonging the conversation deliberately. Somehow the large wet eyeball managed to look offended.

"None whatsoever." The false god replied with brutally blunt honesty. "After all we both know any assurances I might offer would be worthless to you. But that does not change the fact that this may be your last and only chance to save your dying world."

Anyone might be forgiven for considering the offer, for weighing the pros and cons and making a judgement based on what they thought was best. But Kain did not want to be that person. He did not want to take anything this slimey pulsating cancerous tumor of a creature as anything other than a foul self serving lie. He wanted to reject anything it might utter and simply smash it's disgusting body out of existence with sheer bullheaded aggression. But despite every revolted impulse in his body he found himself evaluating the offer in a clinical, detached manner.

Of course this offer hinged entirely on his enemy being actually capable of shielding Nosgoth's fragile being from the powerful effects of the Equinox when it occurred. Once more something very easy to say he had the power to do and yet he had presented no evidence of this ability. He was just relying on the reverence and assumption of ultimate power that came with being a 'God'. Since Kain suffered from no such delusion. Yet neither could he rule out the possibility that his enemy could indeed do what he claimed. Whether or not he actually would, was another matter altogether. As his enemy had said, any assurances would indeed be worthless.

Yet despite all the instinct and logic telling him, screaming at him, that this so called deal was little more than some elaborate trap or scheme Kain could not silence that small voice inside of himself. A voice that dared to hope that all he had to do in order to save the world was to merely do nothing. A voice which against all reason hoped that his enemy would keep his word and depart, never to be seen again, leaving them to rebuild a world brought to the very brink of total collapse. It was a voice of utter naivety and all the more stubborn because of it.

-0-

 **"There was no doubt in my mind there was some ulterior motive for wanting my compliance in this insane offer a truce. Clearly there was more to this, some other reason then mere concern over the safety of the Ark which compelled my enemy to invite me here to talk. Whatever it was, I sensed it was imperative I discover it as quickly as possible."**

-0-

Kain's frown deepened, both from his dark thoughts and from the putrid smell of this place which assaulted him perpetually. Suddenly he wished not to stand in this vile cavenus chamber a moment longer.

"Then I suppose our business here is concluded." The Vampire said flatly, half turning from the eye still looking down upon him. Before he could take a step forward, a large thick blubbery green tentacle slipped free from the slimy walls of the surrounding grotto and bared his way. Kain tensed instantly, raising up his serpentine blade.

"Not quite." His enemy said with a rumble of amusement echoing about the chamber. "There is one other, small matter to attend to." Before Kain could say anything, the tentacle raised up to form a grossly malformed dripping archway. "Moebius, my devoted servant. Step forward."

The spectre of the old dead Time Guardian advanced obediently into the grotto. He came once beckoned like a beaten dog obeying a call from its master, head hung low and shouldered hunched together. Before the sight of the old manipulative man's spirit had inspired pity in Kain, but now seeing him cringe and fawn that pity was replaced with an overwhelming disgust and contempt. Even the ethereal hand in which he carried his ghostly lantern seemed to quaver as he held it out before him.

"I am here, my master." The ghost announced in a voice which was oddly flat, deliberately neutral. The reverence, the wistful romantic look Kain had always seen on his face when he spoke of his divine master was entirely gone. Now there was only cringing fear.

"Come closer." The voice of the false god said in a deceptively mild tone almost ingratiating tone when Moebius' ghost paused beside Kain. The Vampire and the spectre exchanged a brief look, then the spectre took a few steps closer. Kain did not fail to notice that Moebius was looking just about anywhere other than directly at the pulsing nucleus and its colossal eyeball.

"You have served me faithfully in both life and death. I have a task that I can only trust to one so devoted." That voice droned at them. "You are to venture forth from this place and accompany Kain back to his ...people. You will act as my voice and will amongst them. You will bare witness to the choice he makes."

Kain visibly started. THAT was something he could quite honestly say he had not anticipated. Moebius looked even more stunned. His ghost took a step backwards in his startelement and his mouth dropped down.

"Leave..the city?" The spectre remarked with trepidation. "I…"

"And why should I consent to having this pathetic spectre haunt me?" Kain snapped, cutting Moebius off before he could say anything further.

"He will be going whether you consent or not. Either beside you or following behind." The voice replied flatly. "Think of him as my ambassador."

Moebius was visibly shaken and had his free hand resting about his ghostly throat, his face a study of intense anxiety.

"Master, I.. I do not know if.. If I can.." He managed to stammer out as that large eye rolled in its fleshy socket to look at him. Moebius looked up at it and then glanced away quickly, meeting that inhuman gaze causing him what looked almost like the physical pain of a living body.

"You will go, Moebius." The False God said in a firm tone. "You will go because I command it."

Kain glanced about quickly when a slick slopping sound reached him. About the walls of the grotto the tentacles were writhing, sliding all over each other like a nest of restless serpents. Tentacles of all different sizes were undulating together, moving sluggishly but with sinister purpose forward. The Vampire kept his sword raised at his side, but the tentacles ignored him, sliding past and converging towards the spectre of the Time Guardian.

Moebius had not yet noticed as he was too preoccupied with his own anxiety about the chore his master was laying upon him.

"Master, I .. but I …" He was saying. Suddenly the tentacles surged up all about him, forming an arching cage like posture all about the ghostly form, like he was trapped in between cruelly arching claws fingers. Each tentacle began then to pulse with a sickly looking green radiance, the energy of harnessed souls flowing beneath the slimy disgusting skin. Moebius looked about in panicked alarm, finding himself trapped.

"You will go." The voice of the False God intoned in utter finality. "And you will do so in the guise best suited to this task."

The glow intensified suddenly, the tentacles emitting so much green light that Kain had to raise one hand to cover his eyes. The air in the grotto grew heavy and tense, as if it had taken on the heft of stagnant water. Moebius' form vanished into that light, the last Kain saw of him was of the ghostly form looking back with a terror stricken expression.

"No more the shade of a man!" That voice announced, the sound echoing all the more in the tense air. "No more the form of who you had been in life!"

The tentacles then retreated, sliding back to their usual positions and their glow faded as they reported. The air returned to its normal state. Kain lowered his hand and looked out.

Moebius was gone. Where his spirit had been standing something was hovering, bobbing up and down gently just off the ground. It was a ball of flame, flickering pale green and blue fires dancing together in a display of intermixing colours. Occasionally, Kain would swear he saw the outline of the old man's face formed by those dancing flames.

The great eyeball of the nucleus looked on, the reflection of the fires dancing in its elongated pupil.

"Now you are a will'o'wisp! The Ignus Fatuus! The light of the spirit."


End file.
